Boat & Whale Entanglement Tools (The Thompson Blade) Aloha, I'm Grant. Friends have encouraged me to set up this Go Fund Me so I can continue to support the causes I'm involved with. I own a small 13’ rigid inflatable boat (RIB). It has been the support boat for a number of inspiring people and causes like the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society, and also The Pink Lady Paddle for Life, a Cancer Foundation fundraiser. It has supported 12 years of The Pink Lady Paddle for Life, in which cancer survivors and others paddle canoes across the channel from Maui to the island of Lānaʻi. I shadow the paddlers on their two-day voyage and shuttle less able paddlers between boats. The boat has carried researchers who do humpback whale health assessments, and during the COVID lockdown I helped search for entangled humpback whales. It has also allowed me to bring many people on the water to experience humpback whales. As a rough calculation, the boat has carried 800 to 1000 souls over the years. I never charge to do this. Asking for money is something I never thought I’d do, but a couple of months ago my boat fell apart. Its age and the Hawaiian heat, even under a boat cover, caused the glue to fail—so parts of the boat just started peeling off. I hope to replace the boat; I’m reaching out for help. I work for the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, and I’m involved with NOAA as a responder and co-investigator with the Hawaiian Islands Large Whale Entanglement Response Network. I have also started making tools, The Thompson Blade, a specially designed blade to reach tight lines on a whale. (Photo Bellow.) These blades help responders deal with badly entangled whales, more specifically juveniles that grow fast into entangled rope that become life-threatening. If I am able, with your help, to replace my boat, then any donations beyond that cost will go to making these needed tools, which will then be turned over to Ed Lyman, the Response Coordinator for Large Entangled Whales in Hawai'i and Alaska. Edit: I’d like to make the goal to whale tools 10% of the money received and any money over the total goal. Any amount will help $10 or $20, Larger amounts will get me to making more whale tools. Whale season is approaching and we'll be out as much as possible. Who am I: My name is Grant Thompson, Goal: To replace a 13-foot RIB (semi-rigid inflatable) boat. (boat only; no motor) & Whale tools. Ed Lyman - Response Coordinator for Large Entangled Whales in Hawai'i and Alaska. Pacific Cancer /Paddle for Life Pacific Cancer /Paddle for Life This was when Ed Lyman used the Thompson Blade to cut the ropes from a calf. This animal was freed and has been seen several times since. Photo: Michael Griffin/USCG, under NOAA Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program Permit # [phone redacted]-1 https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/mar21/new-disentanglement-tool.html A hooked knife on the end of a pole is used to remove marine debris entangling a humpback whale calf without cutting the calf. Photo: E. Lyman/NOAA, under NOAA MMHSRP Permit #932-1905R. Throwing a grapple over a whale to catch the gear trailing behind. R. Finn : NOAA/ MMHSRP Permit # 18786-06 Thompson Blade Thanks for reading this far. Aloha
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