RODANTE, NC (WNCT) — A smooth whale has reportedly become entangled in a line 20 miles off the coast of Rodante off the Outer Banks.
A group of aerial explorers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium spotted the whale on January 8. according to a NOAA news release.
NOAA fisheries biologists have classified the whale as multiple injuries, indicating that it is likely to die. NOAA reports that there were multiple ropes wrapped around the whale’s mouth and tail, “with an additional rope trailing behind the whale.”
The whale has been identified as a four-year-old juvenile female, officials said.
According to officials, entanglement response teams did not go out and respond to the initial sighting because it was too late and the whale was far from shore. NOAA Fisheries was documenting the entanglement and had to decide if an answer was possible.
An entangled North Atlantic right whale found off the coast of North Carolina
Source link An entangled North Atlantic right whale found off the coast of North Carolina