LAPUSH — Even though the whale caught in crab pot lines off the Pacific coast of the West End has taken off with some lines intact, the Cascadia Research Collective today released photos of last week’s rescue attempt, including this one showing the while as biologists found it Thursday — with a line around its head.
The rope around the head was later cut off. Training floats show as orange to the right of the animal’s head.
A biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective says when rescuers reached the site Friday morning, the juvenile humpback was gone.
Erin Falcone in the organization’s Olympia office said that may mean the whale swam free. Or it may mean it’s dragging a crab pot.
The rescuers are searching for the signal from a radio transmitter that was attached Thursday to the whale when they were able to cut some of the lines. One still wrapped the tail.
Cascadia leader John Calambokidis said the whale appeared to be in good condition Thursday.
A fisherman reported the whale Wednesday stuck in lines about eight miles southwest of Destruction Island, in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
