HONOLULU -- Several hundred feet of rope that had been tangled on a juvenile humpback whale near Maui came free in the past day, but some still remains, according to the National Marine Sanctuary's Marine Mammal Response Team.

A team attached a transmitter to the whale on Wednesday by tossing a grapple onto the derelict fishing gear. The grapple came loose, but that turned out to be a good thing because a couple hundred feet of line came off with it, officials said.

An estimated 100 feet of line remains caught in the whale's mouth. (Images: Whale Entangled In Fishing Lines)

The team tried to cut it free, and nearly did, but the whale became more evasive. Now, the rescue team is tracking the whale with another transmitter, waiting for another opportunity to free the whale of the line.

If they cannot cut it free, officials said they can only hope the line will eventually break on its own and whale's wounds will heal.