WHALE ENTANGLEMENT TEAM

The Whale Entanglement Team (WET)® is a group of unpaid professionals assembled and trained for the purpose of supporting large whale entanglement response. All work is directed under the authority of NOAA's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. Responders learn to understand whale behavior, situation complexity, data collection, Incident Command, vessel operations, and safety prior to participating in whale rescue events. We collect extensive data during entanglement responses that is critical to facilitate new practices, tools, and gear to mitigate future entanglements. In addition to responding to active entanglements, we have developed a new program to remove lost or abandoned fishing gear from the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). This collaborative effort is aimed at the detection and retrieval of derelict gear in order to prevent future entanglements, not only of whales, but turtles, sharks, fish, and other marine wildlife. Although this removal will..

Primary location: Moss Landing United States