Young humpback whale freed from fishing gear after tense rescue

Multiplatform Content Director

ROCKPORT, Mass. —

A young humpback whale entangled in fishing gear off Rockport, Massachusetts, was successfully freed Wednesday by the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team at the Center for Coastal Studies.

Recreational boaters first spotted the whale Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 4, towing a buoy attached to fishing gear. They reported the sighting to the U.S. Coast Guard, which relayed the information to the MAER hotline.

Working from a small inflatable boat, rescuers attached a grappling hook to the rope caught in the whale’s mouth. They used the rope to move behind the whale and cut away the fishing buoy. The team then attached large floats to the remaining rope to pull the entanglement away from the whale.

After it was freed, the whale sped away and out of Ipswich Bay. The Center for Coastal Studies said the animal is expected to make a full recovery.