Rescuers say animal freed near Prince Rupert had likely been constricted for months
A humpback whale was so entangled in fishing gear, ropes and buoys that it took four days for a Fisheries Department crew to unravel the mess, Paul Cottrell said.
“We didn’t even know how to start on this animal because it was so constricted. Its mouth was closed with two wraps around the head, and there were ropes through the mouth, around the body,” said Cottrell.“This poor animal was showing evidence of being exhausted and hadn’t been feeding for quite a while,” said Cottrell, adding that the gear they removed came from Canada and the United States, indicating the long journey the whale had taken while wrapped in fishing gear.
Cottrell said his team was in the Prince Rupert area on Sept. 3 doing a necropsy on a fin whale, when they got the call alerting them about an entangled whale in Hecate Strait. Cottrell said his team has been running non-stop this summer, dealing with at least one entanglement a week. One of their drones caught a photo of a whale with a long rope attached to itspectoral fin in 2022 and they reported it to the DFO immediately, Wray said.Jackie Hildering, a humpback researcher for the Marine Education and Research Society based out of Port McNeill, B.C., said many of the entanglements are never documented, the whales are never detected and therefore can’t be saved.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Grey Cup Festival Tour of B.C. reaches Prince RupertThe tour will visit Terrace and Smithers Thursday, Aug. 15
Read more »
Prince Rupert resident dies in motor vehicle accidentRCMP traffic accident reconstruction experts and the BC Highway Patrol are investigating an Aug. 27 single-vehicle accident which claimed the life of a 35-year-old Prince Rupert man 25 kilometres west of Terrace on Hwy16.
Read more »
Dead fin whale found in Prince Rupert HarbourFisheries and Oceans Canada has discovered an alarming cause of death
Read more »
The rift between Prince Harry and Prince William casts a long shadowPrince Harry, left, and Prince William stand together during the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what woud have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, Thursday July 1, 2021.
Read more »
Structure destroyed in Rupert Acres trailer park fireThe fire was the third to occur in the trailer park this year
Read more »
Superyacht sinking: The 6 missing tourists rescuers are looking forSix people remain missing off the coast of Sicily as rescue teams face a series of hurdles to accessing the inner cabins of the Bayesian superyacht.
Read more »