Rescue team frees whale tangled in fishing rope

A rescue team from the Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts this week successfully freed a whale that had become entangled in fishing rope.

The 60-foot-long fin whale was spotted by a fisherman on Wednesday on Stellwagen Bank, east of Boston. It was swimming with rope and buoys wrapped around its mouth and buoys trailing nearly 70 feet behind it.

The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team used a grappling hook to cut through most of the rope and the small section that remained should shed naturally over time.

Fin whales are the largest species of whale seen commonly off the coast of New England and are a federally endangered species.