Humpback whales are the most frequently entangled large whale species globally, with fishing gear entanglements causing prolonged suffering, injury, and death that disentanglement teams attempt to prevent through careful intervention.
Entangled whales experience progressive physical deterioration over months. Rope wrapped around the body, pectoral flippers, or jaw restricts feeding, movement, and breathing. Lacerations from tightening rope become infected, creating chronic wounds that drain energy and cause ongoing pain. Body condition declines as entangled whales cannot feed normally. Some whales carry gear for years, progressively weakening until they can no longer survive. Disentanglement saves individual whales from this prolonged suffering when teams can reach them, but many entangled whales are never found or cannot be safely approached. Preventing entanglement by transitioning to ropeless fishing gear eliminates this welfare harm at source.