A badly entangled humpback whale was recently freed off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts.
The whale, named Thumper, was with her young calf and had thick rope wrapped five times around her body, which likely made it hard for her to feed both herself and her calf.
The Center for Coastal Studies’ Marine Animal Entanglement Response Team spent an hour with the pair using a specially designed cutting grapple and were able to cut off the wraps of rope.
Both Thumper and her calf were in poor condition, indicating that the mother had likely been entangled for months, according to the center. Now that she’s been freed, Thumper and her calf’s prognosis is likely improved.
Check out a brief video from the response team below.
