Entangled whale off New Jersey coast freed

A young humpback whale that became entangled in fishing rope off the New Jersey coast has been freed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says rescuers were able to free the animal shortly before noon on Friday, and that it swam away.

Scott Landry, a leader of the rescue effort, says workers used a knife at the end of a 30-foot pole to slice through rope that was wrapped around both sides of the whale’s tail.

Although it had been injured by the rope cutting into it, Landry says the whale swam off rapidly and should be fine.

It was entangled by rope attached to some fishing gear about 2 miles northeast of the Manasquan Inlet.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass., and New Jersey’s Marine Mammal Stranding Center helped free the whale.

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