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Rescuers release trapped whale
Source: Agencies |
September 30, 2010, Thursday
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NEW Zealand rescuers cut free a humpback whale yesterday that had been entangled for at least two days in a heavy rope that officials said would have caused its slow death.
Rescuers in two boats took seven hours to slowly tire out the 12-meter animal before they could cut off the rope, Conservation Department spokeswoman Carolyn Smith said.
Spotted close to North Island's east coast by a fisherman on Monday, the 30-ton humpback had heavy green nylon rope wrapped around its head and tail.
"Immediately following its release, the whale headed steadily out to sea," Smith said. "Without intervention, the whale would have died."
Department area manager Jonathan Maxwell said rescuers had used the "kegging" method, which involves people in boats snaring the whale to slowly tire the powerful mammal, before one boat moved in to cut away the entwined rope using a curved knife on a long pole.
Such rescues of 30-ton animals were "dangerous undertakings" that required well-trained staff, Maxwell said.
While the whale was unlikely to be at any immediate risk of drowning, Maxwell said the rope would likely to be causing it distress and even injuries. It would also "impede the whale's movement and ability to feed."
The whale rescue comes only days after 74 pilot whales stranded in Spirits Bay in New Zealand's far north. Only 14 whales were saved after stranding survivors were driven an hour to Rarawa Beach to be refloated in calm sea conditions.
In August, some 58 pilot whales stranded on another northern beach and only nine of the pod survived.
Rescuers in two boats took seven hours to slowly tire out the 12-meter animal before they could cut off the rope, Conservation Department spokeswoman Carolyn Smith said.
Spotted close to North Island's east coast by a fisherman on Monday, the 30-ton humpback had heavy green nylon rope wrapped around its head and tail.
"Immediately following its release, the whale headed steadily out to sea," Smith said. "Without intervention, the whale would have died."
Department area manager Jonathan Maxwell said rescuers had used the "kegging" method, which involves people in boats snaring the whale to slowly tire the powerful mammal, before one boat moved in to cut away the entwined rope using a curved knife on a long pole.
Such rescues of 30-ton animals were "dangerous undertakings" that required well-trained staff, Maxwell said.
While the whale was unlikely to be at any immediate risk of drowning, Maxwell said the rope would likely to be causing it distress and even injuries. It would also "impede the whale's movement and ability to feed."
The whale rescue comes only days after 74 pilot whales stranded in Spirits Bay in New Zealand's far north. Only 14 whales were saved after stranding survivors were driven an hour to Rarawa Beach to be refloated in calm sea conditions.
In August, some 58 pilot whales stranded on another northern beach and only nine of the pod survived.
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