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Orca whale spotted and no longer tangled up in rope

Tangled killer whale

The Pacific Whale Watchers Association (PWWA) and whale watchers were among those worried about the 19-year-old male orca, who’d been seen to be in trouble three weeks ago in the area of the Thetis Island-Chemainus ferry run in Stuart Channel.

The big cetacean, referred to as one of “the twins” because he’ll often travel side by side with another killer whale, T49C, was seen badly tangled. It was reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) who, along with the PWWA, began a search for T77A. Monday all were relieved that he was seen — untangled — by a whale-watching boat.

“What a thrill!” Captain Jim Maya of Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching told media on Wednesday. “We headed out (on Monday) with a full boat and found a single orca, and that happened to be T77A.”

Also searching was local Hobbes Buchanan, who’s enjoyed encountering the twins for years and who said he was worried the tangled-up whale might die. Hobbes operates the San Juan Island Whale & Wildlife Tours and spent his own money to have one of his boat captains search.

During those three weeks since T77A was seen to be tangled and in trouble and the time he was spotted free on Monday, the other twin (the two are not actually related) was seen, but always alone. That caused greater fear that T77A may not have survived.

It’s unclear how the whale managed to untangle himself but orcas are able to get free more often than most other whale species.

Fishing gear and whales

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) writes on its website that dolphins, porpoises and whales all become tangled in fishing gear and the result can be death. Should they survive they will bear scars or injury from the experience.

“Whales find ropes and nets wrapped around their fins and flukes or become caught in their baleen plates,” the IFAW writes. “The whales might drown and die quickly, or live for weeks or months with the deadly gear tightening around them, leading to eventual infection, illness and often death.

“Nearly three-quarters of all known North Atlantic right whales have scars from past entanglements with commercial fishing gear,” the organization adds.

Paul Cottrell of the DFO said that if boaters spot a tangled whale they should not try to help it but instead immediately call the B.C. Marine Mammal Response Network at 1-800-465-4336.

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