June 9th, 2014
Every time the whale watch boat leaves the dock the captain, crew, naturalists, and passengers are full of anticipation and excitement. We head out each trip wondering about what we will see. Each trip is different making each whale watching experience unique and special for all onboard. On this sunny late-spring day, the boat left the dock and headed out not expecting the scenario that they would encounter.
The trip started out with a stop at Petit Manan Island. It was a great visit to the island. Numerous puffins and razorbills, a surf scooter were sighted and passengers had the opportunity to see the second tallest lighthouse in Maine-Grand Manan Light! Since the whale watch was successful in finding whales on the Grand Manan Banks, that is the direction they headed in search.
A minke whale was the first whale sighting, but this individual only surfaced once then disappeared. The boat continued on further into the Gulf of Maine and toward Grand Manan. Multiple pods of harbor porpoise surfaced at different times and locations. About half a mile from where the whale watch left the minke whale, multiple pelagic or offshore birds started to appear. Mostly shearwater and diving Northern gannets, a good sign that whales could be around as well. The captain, Brian, also started seeing a lot of bait on the fish finder. Time to keep a sharp eye out and scan the horizon.
Soon a group of passengers spotted a humpback whale! As it took a deep dive it lifted its tail out of the water indicating the whale was taking a deep dive. Similar to the minke whale seen earlier, this humpback ended up being a bit elusive. So the whale watch continued on to do some more searching. However, what the boat spotted next would change the entire trip!
Not to long after leaving the humpback another spout was spotted. The spout is the breath of the whale which is visible at the surface. Its simply water vapor created by the interaction between the warm breath and the cool air above the surface of the water. The whale was identified as a another humpback! But something did not seem right. As the boat approached senior naturalist, Zack and Captain Brian, noticed three large red floats, lobster buoys, and fishing line trailing behind the whale. This humpback whale was entangled! It also looked to be tethered in one spot as the line was most likely attached to lobster traps sitting on the ocean floor.
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| Humpback whale! You can see the long flippers of the whale just below the surface. The mostly white, long flippers appear green as a result of the phytoplankton in the water! |
Entanglements in fishing gear is a major issue for large whales in the Gulf of Maine. Whales have been known to become entangled in lobster, crab, and gill net gear which can cause injuries and even death. Line can chafe into the skin causing infection, wrap around and within the mouth preventing the whale from feeding, or anchor them in one spot inhibiting them from finding food, migrating, and breathing. Other marine life such as seals and sea turtles can become entangled in fishing gear.
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| Illustration of entangled humpback whale (Center for Coastal Studies) |
Many whales show signs of previous entanglements which are usually scars found on the back, tail or tail stalk of the whale. Marine scientists with Maine Department of Marine Resources, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans are working to learn more about how entanglements occur and how to prevent them. They are also working with fishermen to help in solving this problem.
When a whale is found entangled a disentanglement team and the Coast Guard is contacted via a hotline and/or marine radio. Since the boat was beyond U.S. and Maine waters, the Canadian Coast Guard was contacted while the whale watch boat remained on stand-by with the whale. In New England, the main disentanglement team is based out of Provincetown, MA at the Center for Coastal Studies. However, with the location and distance, the disentanglement would be dealt with by the Canadian maritime authorities.
Staying in sight of the whale is crucial in helping the Coast Guard and disentanglement team relocate the animal as well as giving an overall health and behavior assessment. A big thank you to all of our patient and understanding passengers who joined us on this trip. It ended up being much longer than planned because of the need to stay with the whale until given further instructions. Remaining with an entangled whale also allows our research assistants to collect important data. We leave the disentanglement efforts to the trained team that has the appropriate equipment and training to do so. Disentangling a whale is extremely dangerous and should only be done by those that have been trained to handle this type of situation.
After talking with the Canadian Coast Guard, it was decided that the rescue would take place the following morning. The whale watch boat was able to head back to Bar Harbor. As you can imagine the captain, naturalist, researchers, crew, and passengers were quite concerned about the whale. They would have to wait another couple of days to hear of how the rescue effort played out. Luckily, it was a very successful day for the Canadian disentanglement team!
The Campobello Whale Rescue Team (CWRT) and Department of Fisheries and Oceans were able to relocate and disentangle the whale! The CWRT consists of trained fishermen, which is extremely helpful since they know how the fishing gear works and how to best remove it from the whale. Also, they were very fortunate to have calm seas, making the effort go much more quickly and smoothly for the team. The whale was identified as Hangglide, a nine year old humpback whale that we have frequently sighted during other seasons.
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| The distinctive tail or fluke pattern of Hangglide! (Stealth Vader Photography) |
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| CWRT Disentangling humpback named "Hangglide" (IFAW) |
To read the entire disentanglement story check out the article on IFAW's website: http://www.ifaw.org/canada/news/whale-success-story-hangglide%E2%80%99s-rescue-bay-fundy
Overall, a very eventful day for the whale watch! In the end, hundreds of people helped in saving this entangled whale-from the passengers that were onboard, our company's crew, captains, naturalists, researchers, to the amazing efforts of the disentanglement team! We hope with the efforts of scientists and fishermen working together will help prevent more whales from becoming entangled in the future. We also hope to see Hangglide in the near future so we can assess how the whale is doing. Keeping our fingers crossed! We'll keep you posted so check back soon!
