Caught whale blocks New York shipping channel

9:05 PM Fri 27 Feb 2009 GMT

'Whale caught in lobster pot' .

Last year a baby whale made world headlines by keeping Australian authorities and marine biologists busy for days trying to solve the problem of an orphaned baby whale in Sydney waters. Now New York authorities have an adult whale caught in the main shipping channel into the port of New York, disrupting the shipping route. Ships are having to deviate to avoid colliding with the whale.

The US Coast Guard is enforcing a 500-yard safety zone around the humpback whale entangled in a lobster pot and netting eight miles east of Sandy Hook.

Officials say the whale, which became entangled Wednesday, is visible on the surface and breathing.

An entanglement team from the Massachusetts-based Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies is due to arrive Thursday to try to cut the whale free.

The whale is caught near the approach to Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The Coast Guard said the cutter Penobscot Bay would remain on station overnight to enforce the 500-yard safety zone so vessels operating in darkness are able to steer clear.

by BW Media

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Caught whale blocks New York shipping channel

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