Humpback Whale Freed from Fishing Line in Hawaii

Rescue crews recently freed a 45-ton humpback whale from some fishing line in Hawaii after being caught in the debris for more than a week.

The entangled whale was first spotted Feb. 13 off the Big Island's Kona Coast, with the synthetic line wrapped several times around its tail, forcing it to rely primarily on its flippers to swim. Several state and federal agencies helped with the rescuing efforts, as well as tour boats and helicopters that helped spot the whale in the beginning of the week.

Despite choppy conditions, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary on Saturday was able to get its inflatable craft within 10 feet of the 45-foot-long mammal and the crew used a pole equipped with a knife to saw the line free.

"There was no sudden thrashing. It would trumpet blow, which is a sign of stress," Ed Lyman of the sanctuary told West Hawaii Today. "It definitely wasn't happy with us being there. It didn't understand."

Despite the whale's discomfort, the team successfully cut away several hundred feet of line.

When the whale swam free, all line but a small piece lodged in a wound was off. Lyman says that the fragment should naturally fall away as the wound heals.

"The fact that the lines are gone now...That's a big plus and I think her health is still good," Lyman told Hawaii News Now. "You know sometimes you worry about the fact that well you may have cut the animal free but it will never survive anyway...In this case I think the animal has a very good chance of surviving it's ordeal."

This news comes after a recent study revealed that nearly 700 marine species were threatened by plastic debris. Millions of tons of debris riddle our oceans, and getting entangled in it could result in drowning, starvation, infections and increased susceptibility to ship strikes.

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