May 2, 2018 — When an entangled whale is sighted in New England, the call comes here – to the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. The hotline phone is red, of course. After just one loud, shrill ring, the call goes directly to rescue assistant Everett Sacrey’s cell phone.
“First thing I do is grab my little pad and pen and paper over here,” explains Sacrey, “We have a bunch of questions that we want to ask.”
As Sacrey takes down information about the location and condition of the animal, the team grabs their gear and heads for the response boat on MacMillan Pier.
“It’s minimum time wasted and maximum time responding and trying to get to that animal,” Sacrey said.
That’s what happened on April 10th of this year. Researchers caught sight of a female North Atlantic right whale known as Kleenex who’s been entangled for more than three years. Take a second to think about that. Three years spent swimming around with rope wrapped through her mouth and around her head, and this is the first time responders have had an opportunity to help her.