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Article: SHOT AT RESCUE FAILS ENTANGLED WHALE SHAKES OFF SEDATIVE
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- June 27, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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SEVENTY MILES EAST OF CHATHAM - Help came to an injured right
whale yesterday in a raft with three scientists wielding a 20-foot
pole and a hypodermic needle packed with enough anesthetic - they
thought - to calm a 50-ton mammal.
The scientists spent a grueling day hovering over the whale's
back, trying to quiet the 50-foot creature long enough to remove from
its jaw a fishing line that threatens the whale's life as infection
advances.
It was the first time that rescuers have tried such a procedure in
open ocean. Previously, scientists and veterinarians have helplessly
watched right whales - of which only 300 remain in the world - die of
wounds after becoming entangled in fishing gear.
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