Young humpback saved from death in fishing gear
'It was exhausted and hardly moving,' says man who freed it
Canwest News Service
Thursday, June 05, 2008
PORT ALBERNI -- A juvenile humpback whale that was caught in fishing gear and near death is free again.
John Forde, owner of Clayoquot Eco Tours and the Whale Centre and a board member of the Strawberry Isle Research Society, spearheaded the rescue.
"It was in bad shape. It was exhausted and hardly moving at all," Forde said, adding the whale would likely have died without help. The creature was barely moving and lines from several crab traps had dug into its flesh and were caught in its mouth.
The Strawberry Isle Research Society is the first responder on the West Coast for entangled whales under an arrangement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The whale was spotted last Saturday and Forde and his crew spent two hours searching for it. While they saw up to 25 other humpbacks off Clayoquot Sound, they were unable to locate the whale in need.
Then, on Sunday, a whale-watching excursion spotted the entangled whale and contacted Forde.
Within 45 minutes of receiving the call, the crew pulled alongside the humpback.
It is believed the whale became tangled in crab floats while swimming northward off the coast of Washington state, and that the lines became more and more locked around its mouth and body over time.
Forde started by locating three main lines trailing behind the whale, pulling them into his boat and using them to hoist himself against the injured whale, which he estimates was about eight metres long.
He then cut the appropriate ropes to free the humpback, which he said remained calm and still throughout.
First, the lines around the body were cut, then those in the mouth.
By the time he began working on the pectoral fin, the whale had regained enough mobility to swim away.
The entire operation took 2 1/2 hours.
Humpback whales are relatively solitary and join groups mainly for feeding and breeding. They travel individually or in very small groups.
Pacific Ocean humpbacks are migratory, and are known to travel 4,200 kilometres from summer feeding grounds in Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands, covering as much as 150 km each day.
Strawberry Isle is financed through fundraising events and in co-operation with some West Coast whale-watching businesses that add $1 to each ticket sold.
However, Forde said, rescue operations are often at his own expense, using his own boat and any volunteer crew he can muster.
"I can't see how you could not do it," he said, adding it makes sense to care for the whales that are such a tourist draw on the West Coast.
Forde has taken part in about 10 similar rescues, although this was his first experience aiding a humpback.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
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