Red Ropes May Help Whales Avoid Entanglements
Entangled Right Whale This female North Atlantic right whale, entangled in fishing rope, was spotted off the Georgia coast in January 2012. Attempts at the time to disentangle the whale at the time were unsuccessful, although the whale appeared "to be in good condition" to wildlife officials and conservationists, and not in a life-threatening situation. Georgia DNR, NOAA Research Permit #932-1905 North Atlantic right whales are among the world's most endangered animals. Hunted for hundreds of years and well into the 20th century, there are roughly 400 swimming the western North Atlantic today, according to a 2012 report by the NOAA Fisheries Service. In the eastern North Atlantic there are so few that the population is effectively extinct. These days, the threats to northern right whales include getting tangled up in fishing...