WHALES

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for enforcing laws protecting whales. In the 1930s, the service was assigned the task after passage of the Whaling Convention Act and the Whaling Treaty Act. Others laws followed. In this photo, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Hyde monitors a whale "entangled" in netting or fishing line west of Molokai, Hawaii, on Dec. 6, 2009.

Photo: NOAA
Whales also have brushes with buoys. The U.S. Coast Guard provided tactical support as a NOAA Fisheries’ Large Whale Entanglement Response Team removed a weather buoy anchoring line from a whale in the Pacific Ocean, 30 miles west of Point Reyes, California, on July 10, 2019.

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
Rescue crews untangle North Atlantic whale bound by 100-yard rope line on March 17, 2004. That's the 87-foot cutter Kingfisher WPB-87322 in the background.