Earlier this week a juvenile humpback whale was discovered entangled in fishing gear eight miles off the Jersey shore just south of New York City near Sandy Hook. The whale was in danger because it sat in the midst of east coast shipping channels. The Coast Guard enforced a 500-yard safety zone around the animal for a couple of days until rescuers were able to get there. I'm happy to report they were able to free it:
"The team from the Center for Coastal Studies, based inProvincetown, Mass., and the National Oceanographic and AtmosphericAdministration removed a lobster pot that had caught the whale's tailand other debris under its belly, WNBC in New York reported. No one wasinjured, and the whale apparently survived unharmed. Jamison Smith, the large whale disentanglement coordinator for NOAA,said the whale is 25 feet to 30 feet long, making it a juvenile,Newsday said. Smith said the entanglement could have endangered thewhale's life."
Video, AFTER THE JUMP…
