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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, December 26, 2009

Rescuers free tangled whale off Maui


Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

An entangled humpback whale is shown before he was freed on Christmas Day. Photo taken under auspices of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary/NOAA Fisheries MMHSRP permit #932-1905.

ED LYMAN | HIHWNMS

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A whale entangled in fishing gear off of Maui was freed on Christmas Day by rescuers led by the Hawaiian Islands Entanglement Response Team.

According to NOAA's Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the team launched from Maalaea harbor following a report of an injured whale from an ocean tour operator.
By 6 p.m., the team, staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adinistration’s Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Sanctuary, assisted by U.S. Coast Guard Station Maui, had removed most of the line that was cutting into the whale’s tail.
Rescuers believe that an anchor hanging below its tail was also removed.