KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A pair of large whales were spotted today (Monday) entangled in the same buoy line in Uyak Bay. The whales were first seen by Kevin Van Hatten, a biologist and pilot for the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. He said the whales were performing something of a tug-of-war, trying to swim away from each other.
Uyak Bay is about 30 miles long and nearly bisects Kodiak Island about 60 miles southwest of the city of Kodiak.
It was unclear if whale disentanglement specialists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been dispatched to the scene as of late this afternoon.
Van Hatten said the line the whales are tangled in could have been from fishing gear, perhaps from a crab pot buoy that they could have dragged in from elsewhere.
Van Hatten says there are several pods of whales in the bay, with a handful staying nearby the two tangled up in the line. He said he wasn’t sure, but thinks they are fin whales, which can grow to about 80 feet.
