SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Conservationists have so far been unable to locate a rare North Atlantic right whale that was spotted entangled in fishing rope.
The Savannah Morning News reports that an aerial survey team from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium spotted the whale in early January about 10 miles offshore of the Georgia/Florida border.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources tried to attach a tracking buoy to the bus-sized whaled, but rough seas and the whale’s wariness made that impossible.
The whale has not been seen since Jan. 13.
North Atlantic right whales, which give birth off the Georgia and northeast Florida coast, are considered one of the world’s most imperiled whales.
If whale #1803 s spotted teams will try to respond and attach a tracking buoy and disentangle the whale. The newspaper reported that rope is wrapped tightly around the whale’s tail and attached to part of an apparent fish or shellfish trap.
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