On July 27th a struggling injured whale was reported to the Coast Guard between Sandy Hook and the Rockaways in New York. It took 4 days and teams from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts to free the whale from a buoy and 2 tons of fishing gear. When rescuers arrived from the New York State Department of Conservation and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society the whale was vertical in the water. Just able to hold it's head and blow hole above the water. After investigating further the rescuers discovered several buoys wrapped around the whale's tale. The next day specialized teams from Monmouth University and the Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts were flown in and taken to the whale. The Monmouth University Team and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used specialized knives and power tools to cut though the 4,000 pounds of fishing and buoys holding the whale down. It took hours painstaking work to get the job done. Four days after the whale was first discovered it was finally free. Rescuing whales that get caught in fishing gear is not unusual. But an expert told NJ.COM a rescue effort of this magnitude is.
Source: NJ.COM