14 DAY TRIAL // Not long ago, a humpback whale came fairly close to dying as a result of its becoming entangled in fishing gear.
However, the animal was rescued by a team of trained drivers, who had to remove about 200 feet (61 meters) and two buoys from around the animal's body in order to set it free. NOAA reports that the animal was first seen swimming around with the fishing gear entangled around its body this past March 8.
At that time, the whale was swimming in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
A rescue operation was launched as soon as possible, and divers succeeded in removing about 40 feet (12 meters) of the fishing gear the animal was caught up in. The rest of the trailing line was removed three days later, on March 11.
Due to the fact that the primary buoy was not found amongst the ones removed from around the humpback whale's body, rescuers are unable to say who must be blamed for this incident.