SEA 



SCIENCE 



In addition to administering the 

 program, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 oversees out-of-state reviews. The N.C. 

 Marine Fisheries Commission selects 

 the proposals to be funded. 



The issue of whale entanglements 

 surfaced five years ago, when the 

 Hatteras-Ocracoke Auxiliary of the 

 North Carolina Fisheries Association 

 convened a public meeting on the issue, 

 Foster recalls. But efforts to coordinate 



In recent years, the number of 

 reported entanglements in New England 

 has gone up. Foster suspects that the 

 actual number of incidents is not 

 increasing, but rather that reporting has 

 gone up, as fishers trust the network. 



"I think the same will happen here," 

 he says. 



"In the past, the tendency was not 

 to call attention to themselves, even 

 though by law they have to report it. 



Once the netting is cut, the whale swims free. 



various agencies and offices were not 

 fruitful. 



More recently, Foster was ap- 

 pointed to a large whale take-reduction 

 team, where he learned of Manila's 

 efforts with the Center for Coastal 

 Studies. In New England, many of the 

 entanglements involve right whales, 

 which are considered on the brink of 

 extinction as the population hovers at 

 about 300. 



28 EARLY SUMMER 1999 



There is a threat of severe penalties for 

 injuring a whale," Foster says. 



To encourage more fishers to be 

 trained in Level 1 or Level 2 response, 

 Foster expects to offer evening work- 

 shops. At these first levels, the fishers 

 can stand by and provide appropriate 

 information to Level 3 responders, 

 including marine biologists, who 

 actually perform the disentanglement. 



The March incident followed 



expected procedures. "The fishermen did 

 the right thing. They called it in," Read 

 says. 



The team then counts on the Coast 

 Guard to secure the site as the exact plan 

 is prepared. 



"People want to get in the water 

 with the whale. That is very, very 

 dangerous," Read says. Untrained 

 rescuers could get caught in the net 

 themselves and pulled down when the 

 whale dives. "The power of these 

 animals is amazing," he says. 



Federal law also keeps would-be 

 heroes at bay. Because humpback whales 

 are considered a threatened species, only 

 persons certified by the NMFS are 

 allowed to get close to the animal. The 

 training organized by Foster provided 

 that certification for the rescue team. 



From that point, it was a process of 

 following procedures. "You don't want to 

 get in a hurry," Foster says. 



"The hardest thing is to get people 

 to slow down and to follow procedures 

 — not only for their safety but for the 

 safety of the whale. You don't want them 

 to spook the animal." 



The success of the first disentangle- 

 ment will draw attention to the need for 

 the network. Foster soon will look for 

 funding to purchase primary net tools 

 and buoys for several locations along the 

 coast and to encourage fishers to take 

 ownership in the network. 



"This grant got it started. We have to 

 come up with a way to keep it going," he 

 says. "We hope we will never have to do 

 it again — but we know that won't be the 

 case." 



For more information on the whale 

 disentanglement network training, call 

 Bill Foster at 252/986-2430. To contact 

 the Center for Coastal Studies, call 508/ 

 487-3622. 



For more information on the Fishery 

 Resource Grant Program, call North 

 Carolina Sea Grant at 919/515-2454 or 

 252/247-4007. 



