Community effort helps whale for the second time in just over a month
San Juan Islands, WA [August 22, 2025] – For the second time in just over a month, responders with the Pacific Northwest Large Whale Entanglement Response Network successfully freed an entangled humpback whale in the Salish Sea. The whale, CRC-22662, was disentangled on August 21st and July 16th from nearly identical situations.
Caption: Trained responders work to cut entangling lines from the flukes of a humpback whale. White lines across the whale’s head and back are scars from the previous entanglement that the team freed the whale from on July 16th. Images Collected in Partnership with The Whale Museum and Cascadia Research Collective, NOAA Permit #24359
On Wednesday afternoon, crew on San Juan Excursions spotted CRC-22662, known locally as Starry Knight or Ser, towing two buoys near Colville Island and immediately reported the entanglement. With help from the Pacific Whale Watch Association vessels, shore-based spotters, and the Salish Sea School, the community was able to keep eyes on the whale as it travelled from Colville Island into Rosario Strait. Just before sunset, The Whale Museum’s response team attached a satellite buoy to the gear- remarkably, only a few miles from where they had completed the same procedure in July.
Caption: Tracks created from the satellite buoys TWM responders attached to the entangled whale on July 15th (purple mark leading to yellow mark) and August 20th (green mark leading to red mark). Both times the buoy was attached in Rosario Strait, but the whale travelled in opposite directions during each entanglement. This highlights the importance of standby vessels to enable teams to attach tracking buoys to monitor the whale overnight. The chances of a team relocating an entangled whale without the buoy is like finding a needle in a haystack.
The attached satellite buoy allowed the response team to track the animal overnight as it travelled into the Strait of Georgia. Early Thursday morning, August 21st, responders from Cascadia Research Collective and The Whale Museum used data from the satellite buoy with VHF telemetry to guide them to the whale’s exact location. Using a technique called kegging – adding large buoys to slow the whale and keep it at the surface – the team was able to approach safely and document the entanglement. Starry Knight’s flukes were still healing from the last entanglement, and the new entangling line had quickly become embedded in the old wounds and scar tissue. Despite these challenges, the team succeeded in freeing Starry Knight once more.
Caption: Trained responders slow the whale down by adding large kegging buoys to the entangling gear. They collect underwater documentation to determine the entanglement configuration. The team uses a pole with hooked knives to cut the entangling gear from the flukes of the whale. Images Collected in Partnership with The Whale Museum and Cascadia Research Collective, NOAA Permit #24359
After removing around 300 ft of gear and the final line was cut, Starry Knight swam off quickly – an encouraging sign. But the whale still faces serious challenges. Responders observed deep wounds to its flukes, pitted skin, and high numbers of cyamids (“whale lice”), all signs of stress and poor health. For a young whale still in its first year of independence, such repeated trauma is especially concerning. Unlike adults, juveniles have limited fat reserves, making it harder to recover from disrupted feeding or infection. Even if Starry Knight gains enough weight before winter, the impacts could linger for years, potentially even delaying when they have their first calf, if Starry is a female.
Entanglements are not the whale’s fault. Productive fishing grounds often overlap with feeding areas for humpbacks, creating entanglement risks. Like most humpbacks, Starry Knight returns each summer to the same waters, following its mother’s traditional routes – meaning the Salish Sea is the only home it knows. The older scars across Starry Knight’s head and back suggest the first entanglement occurred while it was feeding in the dark depth of the ocean. When it lunged towards its prey, opening its jaws wide to take in a vast mouthful of food and seawater, it happened to lunge straight into a rope in the water column. The second entanglement likely occurred when fishing rope rising from the seafloor snagged on scar tissue along the flukes caused by the first entanglement. Starry Knight is also not alone in their struggles. In 2025, there have already been 7 entanglement cases reported in the PNW and an additional 14 cases reported in California.
Caption: Images highlight where the line was during the first entanglement (yellow) and the line involved in the second entanglement (red). The thinness of the line involved in the second entanglement made it difficult to see (as evident in the left image) and to cut, with most of the line deeply embedded in the flukes. Images Collected in Partnership with The Whale Museum and Cascadia Research Collective, NOAA Permit #24359
Hopefully Starry’s luck will change and this was the last entanglement this young whale will endure. If not, at least their home is the Salish Sea, where an entire community is watching, ready to respond, and committed to giving this young whale the best possible chance to thrive for decades to come.
About the Pacific Northwest Large Whale Entanglement Response Network
The Network is a collaborative group of trained responders, researchers, and organizations working under NOAA Fisheries authorization to respond to entangled large whales in the PNW. Partners include The Whale Museum, SeaDoc Society, SR3, WDFW, and Cascadia Research Collective and overseen by NOAA Fisheries. The Pacific Northwest Entanglement Large Whale Response Network is part of a national and global effort to reduce large whale entanglements through safe rescue operations, data collection, and prevention strategies. All response activities (including documentation, approaching the whale, attaching a telemetry tag, and removing gear) were conducted by trained and authorized responders under NOAA permit #24359, following international and national safety standards that prohibit entering the water and prioritize the safety of both the whale and the crew.
How you can help
Cascadia Research’s initiative, the Partnership for West Coast Whale Entanglement Action, leverages their staff’s experience as advanced authorized responders to train local teams along the US West Coast. These trainings have enabled teams like The Whale Museum to have a rapid response in local waters and the skills necessary to safely place tracking buoys on the entangling gear, allowing it to be monitored until advanced responders arrive on scene. Currently, Cascadia’s staff are the only advanced responders between Central California and the Canadian border. This Partnership enables the growth of the network and the continued advancement of local responders. As future funding for this work is uncertain, please consider making a donation to your local response team, The Whale Museum, and Cascadia Research Collective to help support the Partnership and future entanglement responses.
Caption: Staff from The Whale Museum and SR3 worked with Cascadia’s advanced responders during a multi- day training event in early 2025. The skills and techniques they learned during the training made the two responses this summer in the Salish Sea possible.
To report an injured, dead, or stranded marine mammal contact NOAA’s West Coast Stranding Hotline at (866) 767-6114. To report an entangled marine mammal, call NOAA’s Entanglement Reporting Hotline at (877) SOS-WHAL/(877) 767-9425. For other incidents or other violations, contact NOAA’s Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964.
Click the button to read and watch a video about CRC & TWM disentangling Starry Knight in July