Whale Entanglement Lecture with Ed Lyman, April 26

Whale entanglement. Photo courtesy: Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary’s Natural Resources Management Specialist Ed Lyman will host a special lecture called Catch and Release: Large Whale Entanglement Response and Monitoring of Hawaiʻi’s Humpback Whale, on Thursday, April 26, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary’s conference room.

Lyman has helped disentangle more than 100 whales and other marine animals over the past 24 years.

During his lecture, he will describe the difficult and sometimes dangerous task of disentangling 40-ton, likely free-swimming whales using techniques modified from those used to catch large fish or used historically by whales to kill animals.

Recent case histories of some of the whales that have been freed in Hawaiʻi by an authorized network of responders will be shown using video footage from pole to helmet-mounted cameras.

Lyman will also provide brief overview of the sanctuary’s health and risk assessment efforts, including entanglement scarring and photo-analysis used to monitor Hawaiʻi’s humpback whales.

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is located at at 726 S. Kīhei Rd.