A young humpback whale has been successfully rescued by a dedicated team of responders off the coast of British Columbia. The four-and-a-half-year-old whale was discovered entangled in fishing gear on September 4 by coast guard personnel on a sailboat. The rescue efforts were led by Paul Cottrell, the marine mammals coordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
The team, along with the help of local volunteers and the Straitwatch marine mammal monitoring organization, located the whale named Tutu near Black Creek, north of Comox on Vancouver Island. Despite Tutu’s strong resistance and continuous movements, the team persevered for three days to completely free the whale from the entanglement.
During the rescue operation, approximately 100 meters of rope were removed from the whale on the first day. The team had to halt the operation due to darkness but resumed the next day near Port McNeil, where they spent another nine hours to remove the remaining gear. Despite the challenges posed by the whale’s vigorous movements, the team managed to gradually untangle Tutu from the fishing lines.
Surprisingly, by the following day, Tutu had managed to free himself from the remaining entanglement. Although the whale had some minor injuries from the ropes, they were not severe, and Tutu is expected to recover fully. This successful rescue is part of ongoing efforts to disentangle humpback whales in the region, as several incidents have occurred in recent weeks.
The increase in whale entanglements is attributed to the resurgence of humpbacks in the Salish Sea, following their near extinction due to commercial whaling in the past century. The return of these whales to inshore waters has led to more interactions with fishing gear, emphasizing the need for public awareness and responsible waste disposal practices to prevent marine wildlife entanglements.