Humpback Whale Successfully Freed from Entanglement in Endicott Arm

The Tracy Arm-Fords Terror wilderness, located 50 miles south of Juneau, Alaska, features a pair of steep glacial fjords: Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. While remote, the waters in this area see steady vessel traffic, ranging from massive cruise ships and small charter boats to commercial fishing vessels and private yachts.

On the evening of May 10, 2026, several mariners noticed a juvenile humpback whale entangled in the narrow opening to Endicott Arm. They reported the sighting to the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network 24-hour hotline. These timely reports from observers in the area were crucial for the initial assessment of the whale and its entanglement. It allowed regional coordinators to develop an effective response plan.

“We formed a network of eyes on the water—vessel crews coordinating real-time updates between one another and relaying them to us,” said NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Specialist Dr. Suzie Teerlink, an authorized large whale entanglement advanced responder on the team. “That communication was critical. It gave us insight into the nature of the entanglement, helped us build a safe response plan, and gave us confidence that we could relocate the whale.”

In Alaska’s vast and dynamic marine environment, timely public reporting often makes the difference in conducting a successful response.

The Entanglement

The whale was entangled in the lines of two commercial Tanner crab pots, each pot weighing approximately 800 pounds.

Responders believe the whale likely encountered one pot line while feeding and subsequently became entangled in the second pot while towing the first. Heavy lines ran through the whale’s mouth and baleen. They led back to a tight knot of line wrapped around the whale’s peduncle—the area just in front of the tail or flukes.

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