A young humpback whale found off the Oregon coast is unlikely to survive after it became trapped by thousands of feet of fishing line and other industry equipment.
Researchers and a response team associated with NOAA Fisheries were able to free the whale last month after it was discovered ensnared and essentially anchored around 20 miles off of Oregon during a U.S. Coast Guard whale survey flight. But the whale was so injured by the gear that its jaw was left “permanently open,” leaving it unable to feed, according to a Tuesday post by the agency.
When it was freed on July 26, the young whale was tangled in “more than 3,000 feet of line, five sablefish pots, and individual commercial Dungeness crab traps from Oregon and Washington,” according to the post.
Wildlife officials hope the incident will draw attention to the plight of whales that get entangled in gear.
