PETERSBURG-AK A team of four, trained volunteers from Petersburg has been trying to free a young grey whale that’s tangled in some sort fishing net and line. The animal was originally spotted in Ideal Cove, south of Petersburg but the responders found it this morning in the Wrangell Narrows right in front of Town. The team includes Petersburg Marine Mammal Center President Barry Bracken, and Board Members Don Holmes and Sunny Rice, as well as local Fisherman Bob Martin. They’ve all trained to respond to tangled whales as part of the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
Grey Whales are unusual for the area. Bracken says the animal appears injured….and emaciated and from what they can see so far, the netting does not look like the type of gillnet gear used in southeast, which suggests the whale may have been tangled for a while.
The team is working from Bracken’s charter vessel “Island Dream” and he gave Matt Lichtenstein an update by cell phone late Friday morning.
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