GPS Tracking of Entangled Whales
16 May 2014
Rescue teams plan to use GPS tracking to help find and rescue entangled whales in Monterey Bay, California.
For the second time in less than a week’s time, a humpback whale has been caught in a crab fisherman’s net out in the waters of Monterey Bay. The search teams spotted this second whale and returned to the area in order to continue their search efforts.
After spotting the whale, it looked like the whale was in bad shape. It was wrapped around commercial fishing line at the Moss Landing coastline. The fishing line appeared to be so tight that the whale’s rib cage was visible.
According to Marine Life Studies rescuer Peggy Stap, this is a life threatening situation and without untangling the whale, it may not survive. Pieter Folkens from the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response team believes it is possible the whale has not survived this entanglement.
So far the biggest struggle has been finding the whale again after first spotting it on the coast of Monterey Bay. Typically, rescuers would have used GPS tracking technology, like the technology used in LiveView GPS tracking devices, with a buoy, but that technology was already being used with another entangled whale.
These GPS buoys are all along the Pacific coastline, but it is rare to have more than one large mammal entangled at the same time.
The first whale that was rescued off Morro Bay is doing better after rescuers removed about 90 percent of the fisherman’s line that captured it in the first place. Stap mentioned that the whale is able to swim faster and farther than it was before, which means it is getting stronger and most likely able to find its own food.
As for the second whale, it is like finding a needle in a haystack without the GPS buoy to track it down. It was simply bad luck that when they spotted the whale, their area GPS buoy was already being used to track the one found a few days prior. Since each buoy costs $8,000, they didn’t think they would need more than one, but are now thinking of purchasing a second one.
The rescuing of entangled whales is done in part by teams from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA does more than just helping to cut and free whales that become entangled, as they also use GPS receivers and transmitters to help track the whales. This type of technology is known as telemetry and helps with future whale rescues.
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