JACKSONVILLE, Ga., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A migrating 45-foot-long right whale was entangled in synthetic rope off the coast of Georgia, but wildlife experts were assisting the mammal Saturday.
"Holiday or not, this entanglement team is committed to taking what steps are necessary," said Laura Engleby, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NOAA fisheries team worked with staff from Florida Fish and Wildlife, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Center for Coastal Studies, the Wildlife Trust, the New England Aquarium and other agencies, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Saturday.
The rescue effort for the whale, of which there are fewer than 300 in the western North Atlantic, began Dec. 6 off the Virginia coast, when the stricken whale was first spotted.
"We've seen over 500 miles of its travels," said Bob Bowman of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Maine, which coordinates the disentanglement network along the East Coast.
