Coral, one of the Whale Adoption Project whales was recently seen
entangled in fishing gear. We are now pleased to report that he
has been spotted by naturalists of the Whale Center of New England
socializing with other humpbacks and he appears to be entirely gear
free.
This is great news for Coral, a whale who has already escaped a
number of life-threatening events. Over the years we've come think
of Coral as a survivor.
Coral was born in 1988 to a big whale named Silver. But tragedy
struck early. When he was still a calf, his mother Silver was seen
to have rake marks (orca scars) on her dorsal fin, most likely acquired
through defending Coral. Poor Silver was found dead on Long Island
in 1991, apparently the victim of an entanglement. Coral's sisDter,
Beltane, was found dead in 1987, one of a number of humpbacks that
died from eating contaminated mackerel - a concern that has been
raised again this year with the red tide.
Nevertheless, Coral survived to become one of the most sociable
whales we have observed. When spotted on whale watches, he is often
seen with other Whale Adoption Project whales including Rune, Mirror
and Spoon.
When we found out that the recently entangled humpback whale was
identified as Coral, we were all hoping that he would escape the
terrible fate of his mother Silver. We are therefore delighted to
confirm that he is now swimming free.
