Humpback tangled in rope
The 35-foot (about 11 metres) long whale, said to be a young humpback, was spotted by boaters Allison Wilson and Cliff Klapstein on Sunday and they alerted the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
It was anchored to one spot and could not swim freely and Paul Cottrell, a co-coordinator from the B.C. Marine Animal Response Network for the DFO, said it was worst case of a marine animal being trapped he’s ever seen.
“This animal was in dire straits,” Cottrell, who has been part of rescuing over 20 whales in the past, told the Huffington Post. “It was at the surface, kind of bent into a U-shape, with only its back sticking out of the water. The tail had tremendous amount of tension being pulled by rope. There were lines all over the body and three lines through the mouth.
“It was hog-tied.”
Before going to work, Cottrell and his team put together a plan on how they would free the whale, using GoPro cameras to do a thorough investigation of how badly it was trapped. The humpback was caught in the lines and gear of as many as 50 prawn traps.
Humpback whale rescued
The juvenile was having difficulty breathing when officials arrived on scene. The team of rescuers from the DFO, a team that included Cottrell, Matt Conley and Ben Rahier, were assisted by a coast guard vessel. Once their plan was in place they went to work painstakingly cutting the ropes that were preventing the whale from moving.
Beginning with all the rope tangled in the whale’s mouth, they moved on to freeing the tail. It took hours but Cottrell said it was at last fully freed and able to swim away. He suspects the creature was trapped like that for 24 hours but does not believe it will suffer lasting injuries from its ordeal.
“We were so relieved,” he said. “It was just amazing experience. Knowing that that animal is gear-free and it’ll be fine going forward — we are overjoyed.”
Without help, Cottrell said the whale would have “eventually died.”
