Salem Harbor Whale Found Dead

By ALAN BURKE

Salem Evening News staff

SALEM -- An young humpback whale that spent part of the winter delighting onlookers as it swam in Salem Harbor is dead, the victim of a fishing net.

The whale was found floating 500 yards off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va., according to the Whale Center of New England in Gloucester.

Scientists at the center had named the nearly 29-foot whale "Inland."

"We've had a hard week," said Allison Glass, a staff scientist at the center, where whales are identified by the distinctive markings on their tails and, sometimes, by their unique personalities.

"She was really unusual," Glass said of the young whale, estimated to be less than 2 years old, "because she was spending so much time consistently in the harbors. ... I watched her lunch-feeding in Salem and Gloucester harbors."

As if drawn by human contact, the whale alternated for much of the winter between North Shore harbors, including Salem, Gloucester and Beverly. She provided a land-based whale watch for people who came to Winter Island, for example, to watch the giant creature expertly navigate the tangle of harbor mooring lines.

But if the whale had an affinity for people, people proved her undoing, as she apparently became entangled in a fishing boat's coastal gill net.

"She couldn't get out," said Glass.

According to the Virginia Marine Science Museum, which examined the remains, the whale showed no sign of bad health or starvation. "She appeared to have been in good physical condition, with a thick layer of fat," said scientist Susan Barco, who examined the remains.

Barco also recorded evidence that an effort had been made by well-meaning fishermen to cut the whale loose from the netting, but the attempt backfired. "She then swam and got caught on another net." As the whale struggled, the netting wrapped more tightly around her flukes. She could not swim free.

"She basically drowned," said Glass. The whale carcass was found Monday, April 9, spotted from the shore.

Whales frequently get entangled in fishing line, Glass added, and sometimes death results.

"This isn't the first time we've had one of our favorites die," she continued. "It really is (difficult), but we can always use it as an opportunity to learn."

Humpback whales, which can live to age 50, by some estimates, are an endangered species. Mason Weinrich, director of the Whale Center, pointed to recent requirements in the Northeast that fishing nets be modified to allow trapped whales an escape.

There is no such requirement in the mid-Atlantic states. "We have to find ways," said Weinrich, "which allow fishermen to continue to fish and whales to live alongside them."

Gloucester Daily April 2001;    Gloucester Daily Times-March 2001;    Gloucester Daily Times-January 2001;    Offshore Magazine-January 2000;    Boston Globe-Sept. 1999;    Boston Globe-January 1999