A baby humpback is swimming freely once again after spending roughly four weeks entangled in prawn fishing gear.
A researcher with the Bamfield Marine Centre spotted the calf swimming with its mother near Folger Island in Barkley Sound on Sept. 9 and immediately reported it to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
sa国际传媒淭he marine mammal rescue crew launched and spent six hours working to successfully disentangle the calf,sa国际传媒� DFO spokesperson Lara Sloan told the Westerly News.
Within about five minutes of the report coming in, DFO Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell was hopping on a float plane and he arrived at the scene less than two hours later, joining fishery officers to assess the situation, which looked grim.
sa国际传媒淚t basically had four wraps of rope around the head and the whole tail stock and fluke were a mass of ropessa国际传媒t was just a ratsa国际传媒檚 nest. There was probably 20 wraps around the tail stock and then longitudinal with the fluke,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭he calf was trumpet-blowing and showing signs of distress. It was obviously not comfortable and the ropes were already digging into both the fluke and the dorsal side. It was obviously painful for this poor calf.sa国际传媒�
He added the rescue team had to be extra cautious because the young animalsa国际传媒檚 mother was swimming alongside, sometimes touching her calf, causing concern that she might become entangled as well or become aggressive.
sa国际传媒淵ou really never know how the momsa国际传媒檚 going to react when yousa国际传媒檙e having to get in close quarters with a calf and the calfsa国际传媒檚 in distress. Itsa国际传媒檚 a highly unpredictable situation because sometimes moms can be quite aggressive,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淪o, this was one where we had to be extremely careful. The mom was stressed when the calf was stressed, so we had to disengage a number of times because she would do a high energy breach very close to us.sa国际传媒�
He said the calf itself was an enormous 25-foot patient for the crew to work with and that tranquilizers are not used on whales due to concerns over dosage and potential drownings.
sa国际传媒淭hese animals are massive, theysa国际传媒檙e powerful and it really is dangerous,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭he mom is 45 feet long and a tremendous, powerful, animal that could create havoc if yousa国际传媒檙e not careful. Itsa国际传媒檚 very nerve wracking, but yet you have to be patient, calm and collected.sa国际传媒�
He said the six-hour rescue was full of sa国际传媒渦p and downsa国际传媒� moments, but the end result sa国际传媒渃ouldnsa国际传媒檛 have gone better,sa国际传媒� and the calf showed high energy as it swam away after he had cut the last piece of rope off.
sa国际传媒淭he calf just took off like a shotsa国际传媒tsa国际传媒檚 really hard to describe the euphoria of all that effort coming together and being successful. Theresa国际传媒檚 nothing like it for sure,sa国际传媒� he said adding the calf joined its mom and swam off. sa国际传媒淭hey started swimming together at the surface, which was cool to see.sa国际传媒�
He said the crew watched the animal to confirm no entanglements remained.
sa国际传媒淎ny type of gear on an animal can kill it overtime because it works into the blubber and it can get infected and itsa国际传媒檚 just awful,sa国际传媒� he said adding the calf suffered some superficial injuries, but will survive. sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 going to be some scarring, but not life threatening at allsa国际传媒tsa国际传媒檚 great that this calfsa国际传媒檚 going to have a chance to hopefully grow up to be an adult animal that contributes to the population.sa国际传媒�
He said the gear the calf had been wrapped up in was identified as recreational prawn gear that was set in Barkley Sound and the gearsa国际传媒檚 owner told DFO it had been missing for roughly four weeks.
sa国际传媒淎ny vertical line in the water is a potential entanglement situation,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said adding the gearsa国际传媒檚 owner is not facing any charges as the gear was active and the entanglement accidental. sa国际传媒淥ur first pillar obviously is prevention, but if we have vertical lines in the water, wesa国际传媒檙e going to have the potential for entanglement, thatsa国际传媒檚 just how it works unfortunatelysa国际传媒esa国际传媒檙e continually looking at that and implementing any management measures that may help.sa国际传媒�
Surfrider Pacific Rim hosted an eight-day shoreline cleanup in the Broken Group Islands last month where 70 per cent of the debris collected came from the fishing and aquaculture industries, according to chapter manager Lilly Woodbury.
sa国际传媒淲hile itsa国际传媒檚 incredible and fortunate that the Marine Mammal Rescue team was able to disentangle the humpback calf on Sept 9, it is not enough to address this issue by dealing with it reactively. We need to work together to address the root of the problem to prevent these tribulations from occurring in the first place,sa国际传媒� Woodbury told the Westerly. sa国际传媒淥ne of the ways this can be achieved is by expanding the scope of extended producer responsibility so that the manufacturers of fishing and aquaculture equipment are responsible for the entire life cycle of their products.sa国际传媒�
Anyone who spots a marine mammal in distress must immediately report their sighting to DFO at 1-800-465-4336.
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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