Before the program, about 50 percent of large whales died during entrapments. After the program began, only about 10 percent die. Whales that today die in fishing gear are dead when the fishermen find them and they just can't be helped. But most are safely released alive. Since 1978 there have been many hundreds of whales which we have released from fishing gear.
Humpbacks are the most common.
But in the 18 years of the Entrapment Assistance Program some 11 different species of whales have been released from fishing gear. Sea turtles, like hawksbill turtles, have been here swimming in our world's oceans for over 100 million years and through hunting, pollution, and loss of nesting and foraging areas most of the world's sea turtle populations are in serious trouble. This means where once there were 100,000s sea turtles there are now only 1000s alive. Possibly too few to enable the species to survive. I hope that programs like ours will help save the hawksbill turtle and other species.