Coast Guard, NOAA Free Humpback Whale on Independence Day

It was real freedom on the 4th of July for a humpback whale struggling after being entangled in fishing lines in the Port of Valdez, in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, thanks to efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA Fisheries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said July 19, that NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline had received numerous reports late on the afternoon of July 3 of a young humpback whale entangled in the middle of the Port of Valdez.

The animal was believed to have multiple wraps of line around the base of its tail and was trailing a bright yellow buoy.

The Coast Guard Station Valdez launched a boat crew to get eyes on the situation to pass along to NOAA experts to determine the severity of the entanglement.

On July 4, two NOAA large whale entanglement experts, Ed Lyman and John Moran went to Valdez to lead the effort with the Coast Guard to free the whale.

Lyman is the regional large whale entanglement response coordinator at the NOAA Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. He works with NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region every summer to provide training and support for large whale entanglement response. He was joined by NOAA Fisheries humpback whale expert Moran, who’s based at the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute in Juneau.

Working from the same boat and same crew, Moran and Lyman made several cuts with a hooked knife on a 28-foot-long pole. As the whale slowly moved into shallower water near the Valdez Marine terminal, the team threw a cutting grapple, a grapple with blades on each of the tines, behind the whale.

That’s what eventually freed the humpback after four hours of effort, making for a celebration of freedom on Independence Day for the team and the whale.

Sadie Wright, Alaska Regional Large Whale Entanglement Response Coordinator, said that the team, with community support, accomplished an amazing feat in getting to this whale quickly during a busy holiday and safely and successfully freeing the whale.