Last Tuesday, NOAA marine mammal experts responded to the scene of a reported whale entanglement in Young Bay near Admiralty Island.

The entanglement was reported by a seaplane pilot in the area.

When members of NOAA’s Alaska regional office and Ted Stevens Marine Institute arrived in the area, they discovered a mother and calf in the area. One of the two, the calf was entangled in what appeared to be fishing gear and trailing an orange buoy.

By the end of the day, the responders had managed to attach a telemtry tag to the gear that was trailing behind the whale calf. This was done in an effort to track the whale during the nightime hours when visual would be lost to the pair.

Through the night, according to the data collected by the tracking device, the calf, and presumably its mother, had travelled approximately 50 miles. But, their route took them in a large circle back to the area that the telemetry tag was attached. A search for the whales was carried out, but they were unable to locate them. The telemetry tag and the gear it was attached to was found however. During the nightime hours the calf had managed to free itself from the entanglement.

Attempts to locate the pair was unsuccessful and they were not seen again by the responders.

The gear was recovered though, it appeared to be a length of line that was used for a crab pot approximately 300 feet long, and an orange buoy.

NOAA advises that people setting gear this summer to limit the scope on their gear to lessen the chances of entanglement.

When encountering marine mammals in distress, NOAA asks that you contact the NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Hotline at (877) 925-7773.