A humpback whale was rescued off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino, B.C. Friday after being tangled in ropes from a crab trap for days.
A whale watching group spotted the troubled animal and called the Strawberry Island Marine Research Society reporting a whale in distress with rope cutting deep into its flesh.
Whale watching guide John Forde, a volunteer rescuer with Strawberry Island, knew the humpback was in trouble immediately. He said it was moving alarmingly slowly and making tired noises.
"The whole back and tail flute of the animal was severely damaged, mostly from sun damage. It looked like sunburn," he said. "Because it had three floats wedged under the left side of the tail flute, that was forcing the animal to stay on the surface longer than it actually would."
Saving a 36-tonne, exhausted and wounded whale is a very difficult feat, but within 30 minutes the crew had freed the whale, who swam away.
The Strawberry Island Marine Research Society has special authorization from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to perform risky whale rescues.
Forde has attempted to save nearly two dozen whales in the last two decades with the organization.
A year ago, he saved another humpback whale near Tofino. That rescue took almost four hours, but the whale survived, something Forde says is rare.
Forde is grateful that yesterday's rescue was a success. The whale even expressed its gratitude to the crew as it swam away.
"There was another boat a couple hundred yards away from us watching and the whale stopped in front of him and did a nice big spy hop for all his guests and carried on," Forde said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Penny Daflos
