A beloved Salish Sea humpback whale known as Pop Tart is swimming free after spending nearly a week entangled in fishing gear, thanks to a cross-border effort involving professional whale watchers and Canada’s marine mammal response team.
The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) said on Friday that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) confirmed Pop Tart was no longer entangled after days of coordinated search efforts by whale-watching companies in British Columbia and Washington.
On July 2, the crew of Victoria-based Orca Spirit Adventures spotted a humpback whale with fishing gear wrapped around a pectoral flipper southwest of Victoria, British Columbia. The whale was identified as Pop Tart.
According to the PWWA, Pop Tart earned her name because she frequently popped up and breached as a young calf.
Entangled Pop Tart. (Megan MacGregor, Outer Island Excursions)
After Orca Spirit Adventures reported the issue, DFO dispatched its Marine Mammal Response Team. Whale-watching vessels from Washington and British Columbia kept watch on the whale until responders arrived.
Although crews were unable to free Pop Tart that first evening, a drone confirmed she was wrapped in more than 30 meters of fishing rope attached to a buoy.
The search continued over the next several days.
Pop Tart was not seen on July 3 or July 4, but she resurfaced on July 5 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near the U.S.-Canada border. Whale-watching vessels tracked her for hours while waiting for DFO, but she disappeared into the fog after a dive.
On July 6, whale-watching companies intensified the search. Prince of Whales launched a dedicated search vessel with a naturalist aboard, while Orca Spirit Adventures relocated Pop Tart east of Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Crews maintained visual contact until DFO staff arrived.
Pop Tart after being declared free of gear. (Sarah Hunter, Eagle Wing Tours)
Poor weather limited rescue efforts that afternoon, but DFO attached a tracking buoy to the fishing gear before leaving to help relocate the whale.
There were no sightings the following day.
Then, on July 8, a vessel from Victoria-based Eagle Wing Tours found Pop Tart east of Race Rocks. The crew noticed the fishing gear was gone and remained with the whale until DFO arrived. Using a drone, responders confirmed Pop Tart was completely free of the gear.
The confirmation sparked celebrations among Eagle Wing’s crew and passengers, as well as throughout the PWWA fleet.
“Entanglement in fishing gear is one of the greatest threats to humpback whales not just in the Salish Sea, but globally,” PWWA Executive Director Erin Gless said in a news release. “Pop Tart’s positive outcome was the result of collaboration between PWWA whale watchers and DFO’s trained marine mammal responders.”