LAHAINA >> Experts are tracking a juvenile humpback whale in hopes of disentangling it from several hundred feet of heavy rope.

Ed Lyman, marine mammal response manager for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said a transmitter was attached to the rope Tuesday as efforts to disentangle it failed because of rough conditions off Maui. Lyman said another attempt may be made today, conditions permitting.

He said the 400 to 500 feet of rope is life-threatening, because it's in the whale's mouth, as well as over its body.

Lyman estimates the whale is between 2 and 5 years old, and about 30 to 35 feet long.