Estimating Humpback Whale Entanglements in the Salish Sea

Project coordinator: Natalie Clyburn

Analyzing photographic records to estimate entanglement frequencies of humpback whales in the Salish Sea

Entanglement in fishing gear is a significant source of serious injury and mortality in humpback whales. We are working to quantify the prevalence of non-lethal entanglements by analyzing scars in photographs obtained both opportunistically by marine naturalists on whale watching vessels and by Keta scientists on Research Trips.

Photographs were taken of individual whales’ caudal peduncles and flukes whenever the photographer was parallel to the animal and/or behind the whale as it begun and completed its terminal dive. We are now working to identify scars on known individuals through photos compiled from 2014-2019. 

We aim to estimate the percentage of our known whales that have evidence of non-lethal entanglements, percentage by year, and to note if these entanglements are becoming more or less frequent as humpback abundance continues to increase in our urban waterways.

natalie@ketacoastalconservation.org