Whoever set up this heavy crab line and buoys off the coast of Hawaii probably weren't expecting to catch a 40-ton adult whale.
The crab line tangled a whale's tail for more than a week before a response team freed the mammal, reported Hawaii News Now.
The whale was first spotted with the fishing line with a red buoy wrapped around its tail on Feb. 13. The efforts to free the whale, who was forced to maneuver its 40-ton body through the water using only its front fins, reportedly began immediately.
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary waited for the whale near the coast of Maui while a response team used a pole with a hook knife at the end to saw the line off the whale when it swam by, reported West Hawaii Today.
The rescuers successfully removed the line from the whale's tail, although about six feet of line remains in the wound, reported Hawaii News Now. The wire that is still embedded in the whale will likely fall out on its own over time.
"The fact that the lines are gone now...That's a big plus and I think her health is still good," Ed Lyman, a large whale entanglement response coordinator, told Hawaii News Now. "You know sometimes you worry about the fact that well you may have cut the animal free but it will never survive anyway...In this case I think the animal has a very good chance of surviving it's ordeal."
Several state and federal agencies helped with the rescuing efforts, reported West Hawaii Today, as well as tour boats and helicopters who helped spot the whale in the beginning of the week.
Watch a video of the rescue here:
