OUTER BANKS, N.C. - A right whale is tangled up in lines 20 miles off the coast of Rodanthe off the Outer Banks.
An aerial survey team from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium spotted the whale on January 8, according to a media release from NOAA.
NOAA Fisheries biologists have classified the whale as severally injured, indicating that it is likely to die. NOAA reports there were several wraps of line around the whale’s mouth and tail “with additional line trailing behind the whale.”
The whale has been identified as a 4-year-old juvenile female, officials said.
Entanglement response teams did not go out and respond to the initial sighting, as it was too late in the day and the whale was far from shore, officials said.
NOAA Fisheries was documenting the entanglement and was set to decide whether a response was possible.
