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Team Frees Snared Right Whale

Critically endangered right whale was snared in hundreds of feet of fishing line

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 30, 2008 5:55 AM CST

(Newser) – A team of experts managed to free a right whale that became entangled in fishing lines off  Florida, the Washington Post reports. Rescuers took three days to cut away hundreds of feet of line that had been trailing the young whale. Only 400 right whales are believed to remain in existence, and the federal government is about to institute new fishing regulations to cut the number of entanglements. "When you have this small a population, every animal counts," said an expert.

A team cuts away hundreds of feet of fishing line from a right whale.
A team cuts away hundreds of feet of fishing line from a right whale.   (Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission)
An aerial photograph shows a right whale tangled in two fishing lines.
An aerial photograph shows a right whale tangled in two fishing lines.   (Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission)
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