Maui pair develops tools to free entangled whales

by billrini on April 18, 2006

WhaleDavid Mattila and Ed Lyman, from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, have developed several home-made tools to assist rescuers in freeing whales caught in fishing line and nets.

I’ve spoken to people who rescue marine mammals and several volunteers have died attempting to give aid to trapped whales. The volunteers know that the mammals mean them no harm but when you’re dealing with a multi-ton animal of that size, a simple slap of the tail while thrashing around could not only kill a human but is likely to take out any rescue boat the volunteers are on.

Image borrowed from Flickr user Mark Carey.

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