Ocean Sentry
(From kitsapsun.com) Whale experts are pondering when and where to launch another search-and-rescue operation to assist a young humpback whale tangled in fishing gear off the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula.
The tangled humpback, which is young enough to be with its mother, was first sighted more than a month ago near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, he noted. The danger to the whale, he said, is that the crab lines can cut into its skin as it grows, causing permanent injury — even if the gear does not prevent it from swimming and feeding.
The continuous movement of the wandering whale, last seen Sunday evening by a fisherman, makes it difficult to locate the animal and get an equipped rescue boat out to it, said Brent Norberg, regional marine mammal coordinator for NOAA Fisheries Service.
