Biologists Seek To Untangle Whale

Marine biologists searched Friday for a gray whale that got caught in a crab pot line and then swam off, still tangled up, after the line was cut.

“We still have some concern about the whale,” said George Galasso, assistant manager of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

A sailboat carrying five people struck the 40-foot whale on Thursday, a few miles west of Cape Johnson on the Olympic Peninsula. The whale, tangled up in the line with a crab pot on its back, did not appear to be hurt by the boat, Coast Guard Petty Officer Paul Lassila said.

Some crew members on the 44-foot sailboat cut the line, and the whale swam off wrapped in at least 30 feet of line.

“The sailboat owners reported that it had scratches and a cut on the dorsal fin,” Galasso said.

Ed Bowlby, a biologist at the sanctuary, said gray whales have been migrating up the coast to Alaska for several months, but there are about 30 resident whales that stay near Washington. xxxx