The body of an humpback whale in the area named Tango was discovered Friday evening on the shores of Hump Island, about 10 miles to the northwest from Auke Bay. NOAA is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Tango and a postmortem examination on Saturday showed injuries that could be attributed to a vessel collision.
Mandy Keogh, who oversees NOAA’s response to whales when they are struck or stranded by boats, has described collisions between the two and humpback whales Southeast as “fairly typical.”
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”Unfortunately collisions between vessels with humpback whales can happen,” she said. “You cannot observe a whale until you are close to them or you are unfortunate enough to come across them. .”
Keogh claimed that Tango was born in the year 2000 to Sasha who is a whale from the local area who is known to visit Juneau in summer. The statement issued by NOAA stated that Sasha was seen in the vicinity of Juneau during the weekend. She was not believed to be injured.
Keogh reported that NOAA was notified of two vessels strikes within the days preceding Tango was discovered. Biologists scanned for any animals that appeared unusual or had signs of injury.
“In all we found around 10 animals and none of them showed evidence of injuries” she explained.
Koegh stated that she does not be sure if these reports relate to the incident that was happening to Tango. They are also unable to say which vessel was responsible for striking Tango however Koegh said any vessel that operates in Alaska should follow the NOAA guidelines for operating in close proximity to whales.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”These are legal requirements that vessel owners must comply with every time they’re in the vicinity of an humpback whale inside Alaska. It also includes ensuring certain distances” she explained.
These guidelines that require vessels to keep 100 yards from whales and avoid disrupting their activities are available at the NOAA Fisheries website.
