A humpback whale trapped by fishing gear was saved by a marine rescue team in British Columbia, Canada.
The whale was trapped by fishing gear near Texada Island on Canada’s West Coast, when the Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Marine Mammal Rescue Team was alerted earlier this week. The team located the whale stuck in a buoy being used to catch prawns, according to Vancouver City News.
A humpback whale that became entangled in fishing gear off the B.C. coast is saved after an hours-long rescue mission by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ marine mammal response team. #TheMoment pic.twitter.com/PVD9hICT3V
— CBC News: The National (@CBCTheNational) October 21, 2022
The whale was reportedly caught in 300 feet of fishing gear. The marine rescue team tried to locate the whale for two days before finding it through a satellite tag. They found the whale with three companion animals, according to the New York Post.
The Marine Mammal Rescue team located the whale and came to the rescue, successfully removing the gear and freeing the whale, according to Vancouver City News. A video on BBC News shows the nearly five hour process to free the whale from the gear, with the team making specific cuts to avoid injuring the whale and using a drone.
The whale stuck its head out of the water and did a backflip, allowing the gear to loosen which set the whale free, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Video Shows Whale Land On Bow Of 19-Foot Boat While Breaching)
The Department of Fisheries made a statement after the whale was freed. “The conservation and protection of marine mammals is a top priority for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) … Debris is a real problem for marine wildlife. The public can help prevent entanglements by cutting packing material, banding, rope, and other looped material before disposing of it, and by not disposing of these materials in the marine environment,” the department said in the statement, according to Vancouver City News.