
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990                   TAG: 9004060299
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

WHALE DOES VANISHING ACT FOR RESCUERS

A humpback whale was found tangled in fishing nets off the Virginia coast early Thursday, causing state and local officials to scramble to mount a rescue effort to free the huge mammal.

But the whale vanished about midday, prompting speculation that it either escaped the nets or drowned.

"It may be that he broke free from the net. He appeared to leave the area rapidly," said Mark Swingle, a curator at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. The museum, along with the Virginia Institute for Marine Science, organized the operation.

C. Mac Rawls, the museum's director, said the whale was spotted about 8 a.m. in the Atlantic Ocean just off Virginia Beach near Rudee Inlet. Rawls said the whale slowly drifted south, dragging nets and anchors along with it.

Swingle said the 35-foot whale was young and probably weighed around 30 tons.

The whale apparently became entangled in gill nets for shad that are strung up and down the shallow coastal waters of the area. Swingle speculated the whale may have been in shallow water feeding on fish.

- Associated Press

by CNB