There was a time when Christine Gabriele wondered if she’d ever see one of her favorite creatures again. That 42-year-old female humpback whale — known as whale #219 to Gabriele and other biologists at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve — had been missing from her favorite Icy Strait herring-fishing grounds in Alaska. No one […]
NOAA Fisheries whale experts were on the water near Juneau most of Monday, July 17, disentangling a well-known humpback whale calf from a crab pot line. Biologist John Moran, Auke Bay Laboratories, discovered the entanglement while he was out on the water conducting research Monday morning. Marine mammal experts Suzie Teerlink and David Gann from the NOAA […]
Research aims for baseline information on whale behavior and biology in absence of vessels. This is a collaborative effort with the University of Alaska Southeast, University of Alaska Fairbanks, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office and Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Auke Bay Laboratories and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. It’s an unusual year out on […]
Highly-trained responders depend on boating community to be “eyes and ears” on the water NOAA Fisheries’ John Moran reaches with a pole to cut a line entangling a humpback whale in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Credit: NOAA The foundation of responding to entangled whales is the on-water community. NOAA’s Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network depends on […]