Entaglement of Humpback Whales in Fishing Gear: Description of Injuries and Entanglement Patterns
Abstract
In the Gulf of Maine, the entanglement of humpback whales in fishing gear is a
substantial source of human-caused mortality. The current mortality and serious injury
of
humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine is twice the Potential Biological Removal (PBR)
level set for this population. Researchers and managers are challenged to reduce
entanglement to below PBR without extensive information on many important factors.
The goal of this study was to describe entanglement injuries and investigate whether
different fishing gear types, particularly pot and net fisheries, resulted in distinctive
entanglement patterns of humpback whales from the Gulf of Maine. I searched the
Center for Coastal Studies' entanglement database for whales that fit the following
criteria: the entanglement occurred between 1995 and 2002, the whale was photographed
during the disentanglement, and the gear type or line type of the entangling gear
was
known. Sixteen cases were identified that fit the criteria. Three cases involved
entanglements in pot fishery gear, four in net gear, and nine cases with known line
type.
I qualitatively analyzed photographs from these sixteen cases to describe the injuries
and to investigate whether any entanglement patterns could be determined based on
gear type in terms of location of entanglement on whale, presence of trailing gear,
presence of
buoys or high flyers, free swimming versus anchored in gear, disentanglement success,
or
type of injury. I was unable to find a relationship between entangling gear type and
any of the factors assessed. I discuss potential reasons for the finding of no relationship
as well as considerations for future research in this area.
Type
Master's projectSubject
Gulf of MaineHumpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Entanglement
Potential Biological Removal (PBR)
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/269Citation
Mooney, Melissa S. (2003). Entaglement of Humpback Whales in Fishing Gear: Description of Injuries and Entanglement
Patterns. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/269.Collections
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