The was whale trailing fishing gear, including rope and several floats.
An humpback whale was cut loose from fishing gear tangled around its dorsal fin in Juan de Fuca Strait over the weekend.
It was a two-day operation involving Canadian and American rescuers that saw the whale trailing rope and several floats as it straddled the international boundary.
The whale was first spotted off the west coast of Vancouver Island on Friday by crew on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship John P. Tully, who reported the distressed humpback.
The DFO’s Marine Mammal Rescue Unit led a response, with support from fishery officers and members of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship M. Charles.
A satellite tag was placed on the gear to keep track of the whale.
The Marine Mammal Rescue Unit, led by Paul Cottrell, got some help from the U.S.-based NOAA Fisheries West Coast Rescue Team, in the difficult task of cutting away the ropes. On Sunday, Cottrell was eventually able to make a last cut with a pole knife, and the whale swam free.
The DFO said the multi-agency, cross-border operation “required significant co-ordination, resulting in a successful outcome for the whale.”
It was the second entanglement rescue in as many months for Canadian and American crews.
In early August, the DFO, NOAA Fisheries and the Cetus Research and Conservation Society joined forces to free a humpback calf, which had been travelling with its mother.
The entangled calf had more than 300 feet of rope and a buoy wrapped around a pectoral fin. The rescue invojved rescuers following the whales as they were zig-zagging the U.S.-Canadian border.
The DFO urges boaters if they see a whale in distress, to give it space and never attempt to remove any entangled gear or equipment. Report it right away so that trained experts can respond.