Local marine animal response team frees humpback off Rockport

A Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response team freed a young humpback whale off Rockport on Wednesday, August 5, after it was spotted by recreational boaters the prior afternoon. Responders used a grappling hook to pull fishing line out of the whale’s mouth, then cut away an attached buoy. Large floats were deployed to carry away the remaining rope as the whale left Ipswich Bay. The whale is expected to fully recover. CCS Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program Director Scott Landry said the removed fishing gear was handed to NOAA Fisheries to identify its origin. Humpbacks remain listed as threatened in Massachusetts, and boaters are urged to report entanglements to MAER or the Coast Guard.