A rescue off Canada’s Pacific coast has given one humpback whale a second chance at life. After being entangled in fishing gear for months, a 36-foot humpback whale has finally been freed after four days of rescue efforts.
Video from The Associated Press showed ropes tightly wrapped around the whale’s body. Ropes can be seen just behind the blowhole and before its dorsal fin. After over 50 cuts to the netting, the whale was able to swim free.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell said he was surprised at the scene, “I’ve never seen anything like it. The animal couldn’t open its mouth.”
His team was working on a necropsy for a dead fin whale nearby when they received a call about the entangled humpback.
Entanglement in fishing gear is a growing threat for humpback whales. According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, 49 of 67 large whale entanglements in U.S. waters in 2022 involved humpbacks. Some groups are hoping the switch to ropeless fishing gear could held mitigate such dangers for the whales.
But this whale can now return to the ocean unharmed.
