Tangling with Disentanglement

Petersburg, AK, Sept. 14, 2006

On September 14, 2006, the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) was involved with another gear-entangled humpback whale. At about 8:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, September 13, PMMC board member, Barry Bracken, received a phone call from a local gillnet fisherman reporting a humpback whale entangled in approximately 25 fathoms (150 feet) of gillnet gear one quarter mile west of Pt. Frederick in Frederick Sound. It was dark and the wind was blowing toward shore so the fisherman cut the net (and whale) loose from the boat and attached a large buoy bag to the end of the gear. Bracken notified the NOAA Protected Resources Division by phone and determined there was nothing else that could be done that night.

Volunteers help in removing gear from entangled Humpback whale with direction from NMFS staff (photo Barry Bracken)

At approximately 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning, September 14, Bracken and PMMC President, Lee Ribich, took Bracken’s boat out to locate the whale. It was located very near shore within half a mile of where it had become entangled. It was in heavy kelp and appeared to be anchored, either by the gear snagged on bottom or entangled in the kelp. It was breathing at a very slow rate of about one breath every three to four minutes, but otherwise appeared to be stable. There was no gear around the head or blowhole and most of the net's weight was apparently near the tail, which was consistently underwater at an unnatural angle.

Bracken and Ribich returned to town to locate appropriate tools and personnel to begin preparing for the disentanglement effort. By that time, Aleria Jensen of NOAA had responded to the phone call and was attempting to locate someone more experienced with disentanglement within the region. She also notified the crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter Elderberry in Petersburg who agreed to make their foam-collared vessel available, if needed.

	Humpback whale entangled in fishing gear that was sucessfully removed (photo Barry Bracken)

By 10:00 a.m. all necessary equipment had been located and it was determined that PMMC board members would perhaps have to take the lead role in the disentanglement. About that time, Bracken received a call from the Executive Officer of the Elderberry stating that he had received a report that the whale had freed itself from the gear. Bracken went to the site of the entanglement on foot to verify the report. The whale was free of the gear and about one mile offshore when Bracken arrived. Witnesses on the beach said the whale raised its head out of the water and then dove quickly downward and came up free of the gear in one attempt. Bracken, Ribich, and PMMC board member Scott Roberge took Roberge’s boat out to retrieve the gear. The gear was then returned to its owner.

Barry Bracken
PMMC Board Member

This article links the previous report regarding alliances (Forming Aliances) with the possibility of fishing gear conflicts. Clearly, humpbacks continue their recovery and are seen in increasing numbers. Alaska salmon return from the sea in great floods and the fishing fleet sets gear in traditional areas to harvest them. The chances for unintended interactions between the whales and the fishing fleet are becoming more common.

The report indicates that a tragedy is not inevitable in these conflicts. The fisherman did the right things to protect himself and his boat; AND he did the right thing to protect the whale after the unfortunate netting. This is part of our developing mission: to help the fleet diminish these conflicts and, when they occur, to assist in resolving the conflict with minimal damage to all involved.