Posted on: Friday, March 30, 2001
Whale incident prompts reminder
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
An incident Wednesday involving a humpback whale off South Maui has prompted a federal marine official to remind the public to notify authorities before assisting stranded or entangled animals.
Margaret Akamine Dupree of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Protected Species Program said the agency was aware that a whale had been spotted with a buoy line wrapped around its fluke and was responding when the tour boat Pride of Maui came upon the animal at about 4:10 p.m. while returning from a Molokini snorkeling trip.
The crew of the 65-foot catamaran, aware of Coast Guard advisories of an entangled whale in the area, hauled in about 250 feet of slack line before cutting the rope, said boat captain Kiwini Hall. He said the 45-foot whale was about 50 feet in front of the vessel when the line was cut, and was accompanied by a second humpback.
Once free, the whale did a fluke dive and swam off. Hall said a shorter segment of line remained wrapped around the animal's tail, but "it should come undone by itself."
Hall said he's assisted turtles injured by fishing hooks but this was his first close encounter with a humpback whale. "This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, helping a whale out," he said.
Dupree recognizes crew members had only good intentions in trying to free the whale, but said they erred by not contacting the Coast Guard or other authorities after spotting it.
If they had, they would have been informed that the fisheries service had plans to tag the debris and track the whale until it became fatigued and safer for trained personnel to approach.
"We were already on it," Dupree said. "We don't want folks to get hurt."
A lively animal the size of a humpback whale is too dangerous to approach, despite its reputation as a docile creature, Dupree said.
She is not as sure as Hall that the whale will be able to free itself from the line.
"From the description, we are not convinced this is the type of entanglement that will just fall off," Dupree said.
The hard plastic buoy recovered by the Pride Of Maui is believed to be a subsurface device used for suspending oceanographic instruments.
The keg-shaped buoy has stainless-steel bolts, is about 3 feet in diameter and weighs about 30 to 40 pounds, said Victor Honda, special agent with the National Marine Fisheries Service on Maui. Honda said it was attached to a stainless-steel chain and a three-quarter-inch braided rope.
An examination of the buoy revealed it was manufactured in 1982. Dupree contacted its Mainland manufacturer and is trying to learn more about it.
Where the whale picked up the buoy and how long it has been dragging it remains a mystery.
The tour boat Lanikai, which first spotted the entangled whale, did the right thing by reporting it to the authorities, Dupree said. Using information and video obtained from the tour boat, the fisheries service was able to confer with marine experts and devise a plan of action.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is the management authority for all marine mammals in Hawai'i.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Network is the only authorized group to respond to a stranded animal, Dupree said.
The public can play an important role in rescuing stranded or entangled marine mammals by reporting incidents and providing complete information.
Reports should be made to the network's 24-hour, toll-free hot line at (800) 853-1964, or to local police.
Stranded marine mammals should never be approached, Dupree said, because necropsies have shown the presence of E. coli bacteria in some of the animals. In addition, a person could be injured if the animal is rolled in the surf, or there may be sharks nearby.
In February, a tour boat off Barking Sands on Kaua'i spotted a whale in distress. The weakened animal had a float and several long loops of 3/4-inch line that were cutting into its fluke.
The skipper called the Coast Guard and received permission to approach the whale and managed to cut most of the rope away.
