||| FROM BRADENTON HERALD |||
A humpback whale “severely” entangled in fishing gear was freed during a complicated, multi-day operation off the coast of Canada. The rescue occurred not far from Prince Rupert — a port city in British Columbia — during the first week of September, Lara Sloan, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), told McClatchy News.
The animal was found to be extensively wrapped in a knotted mass of ropes and buoys, video footage shows. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Paul Cottrell, marine mammal coordinator for DFO, who was alerted to the whale, told CBC. “The animal couldn’t open its mouth…”
The gear had likely become attached to the whale over a period of months, per the outlet. And, without intervention, it would have “suffered a different fate.” Over a period of four days, a rescue team cut away the entanglement.
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