Yesterday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) sighted an entangled whale in their survey area just south of Jacksonville Beach, FL. The New England Aquarium identified the whale as the 2007 calf of 1701. The FWC launched their research vessel Orion to assess the whale's entanglement and attach a telemetry buoy. Zach's previous experience assisting in the disentanglement attempt on Eg#3294 made him a hot commodity for disentanglement events. He was contacted within the first hour the entanglement case was reported to assist in the new entanglement case. The team successfully attached a telemetry buoy and cut hundreds of feet of line trailing behind the whale.

Fog in our survey area kept us on the ground for all of yesterday. Our plane does not have the specialized equipment necessary for flying in foggy areas.

Today, both the Aquarium and FWC aerial survey teams are in the air hoping to find the 2007 calf of 1701. The research vessel Orion is also on the water and ready for action.

-Jonathan

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, AerialSurvey2009, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales