On Saturday, the Center for Coastal Studies’ Marine Animal Entanglement Response team has helped rescue a humpback whale, which was entangled in fishing gear, on Stellwagen Bank. The whale, which has also been attacked by a white shark, was spotted around five miles north of Provincetown.

The rescued whale is a 14-foot long female, which the researchers have tagged last year. The whale was hogtied from mouth to tail and also had bite injuries. The center officials said they were carrying out a research on gases being exhaled by humpback whales and it was then that they saw the entangled whale on Stellwagen Bank, a popular feeding ground for whales.

The whale was not able to move and had a big wound on its left flank from the shark. Because the rope ran through the whale’s baleen and was wrapped around its flukes, the whale became quite vulnerable and was unable to move its tail for swimming of defense, said CCS Executive Assistant Cathrine Macort.

Dr. Jooke Robbins said when she spotted the whale she thought it was just taking rest. But when they went closer to it, she saw the rope, the shark, and its wound. “Because of the entanglement, the whale was unable to move normally, and was likely quite limited as to how it could thwart the shark”, she said.

In order to ensure safety of the staff, the team carried out the disentanglement operation aboard its 35-foot response vessel, IBIS. With the help of a hook-shaped knife was used to cut the rope. After being freed, the shark swam away.