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In addition to being threateneed by entanglement in fishing nets, floating rope and net debris like that in the accompanying photo also threaten marine mammals.
According to a field guide, early whalers called them "right" because they believed them to be the right whale to take since they swim slowly and are easy to approach and kill. Today the 300 remaining right whales in the Atlantic are considered critically endangered, particularly one we saw that was tangled in ropes and buoys. The next day, a second entangled whale was reported, and according to news reports, at least four right whales in U.S. and Canadian waters are entangled in fishing gear. Nine were reported last summer.
Entangled whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other species is not unusual considering they use the same fisheries as fishermen. The problem for whales is that ropes and nets can eventually tighten and cut into the whale. News reports explained that this can cause infection, so the sooner rescuers can free the whale the better.
Redesigned whale-friendly nets with thinner ropes and weak links are being tested this summer. Fishermen and marine researchers who designed these nets hope they will break away when a whale gets entangled, but the breakaway capability won't interfere with the fishermen.
Shortly after the second entangled whale was reported, it broke free. The last I read, rescuers had lost sight of the first whale.
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