Members of DFOsa国际传媒檚 Marine Mammal Rescue are chalking up an incident this week as a win even though they didnsa国际传媒檛 quite make it to the scene.
Paul Cottrell, fisheries biologist and coordinator for the Department of Fisheries and Oceanssa国际传媒� Marine Mammal Rescue, and his team members responded Sunday at about 5 p.m. after they received a call to help free a juvenile killer whale entangled in the line of a prawn trap just off Rocky Point in north Nanaimo.
The young whale dragged the line and trap for about 600 metres and was struggling to free itself.
Boaters nearby called the DFO whale rescue unit and stayed back and observed until help arrived.
sa国际传媒淲hat happened initially was the big killer whales were foraging and consuming and tenderizing a harbour seal right where the buoy [for the trap line] is and near the end of the kill, unfortunately one of the juvenile killer whales got caught up in the rope there,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said.
The orca managed to get itself untangled shortly after the DFO team left the dock to respond.
sa国际传媒淭hey donsa国际传媒檛 always get out themselves,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e been involved in quite a few rescues over the years sa国际传媒� where animals were stuck.sa国际传媒�
Cottrell said no two entanglements are alike. Depending on the whalesa国际传媒檚 struggles, trap lines can wrap around their tails multiple times or become caught up in the animalsa国际传媒檚 mouth, pectoral fins and tail so the whale becomes effectively hog-tied and unable to move. If a whale cansa国际传媒檛 get to the watersa国际传媒檚 surface it can drown.
Some animals get tangled up more often than others.
sa国际传媒淚 think theysa国际传媒檙e very aware of their surroundings, killer whales, but I think itsa国际传媒檚 often curiosity too,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said. sa国际传媒淭here are a couple of animals that are renowned for interacting with ropes and floats and lines sa国际传媒� One of the animals we rescued a number of [times] was an animal that has a bad habit of doing that and sa国际传媒� every year, this one particular animal we get three or four calls sa国际传媒� hesa国际传媒檚 quite a character.sa国际传媒�
Because of their smaller size, orcas donsa国际传媒檛 have the stamina of whales with greater body mass that can actually drag fishing gear for very long distances, sometimes for months, so itsa国际传媒檚 important that help comes quickly.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e basically a kind of SWAT team, ready to respond at any time,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said. sa国际传媒淚 have kit with me all the time because itsa国际传媒檚 a priority in my job to be able to respond to entangle animals, so itsa国际传媒檚 kind of cool and I love it.sa国际传媒�
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Research is being conducted in Canada and the U.S. to design rope-less fishing gear or release mechanisms to prevent entanglement, but there are ways to help avoid it which include using tether lines that sink to the ocean bottom or lines that limit slack for a whale to wrap itself up in.
sa国际传媒淚f you have too much loose line an animal can easily get wrapped around there and theysa国际传媒檒l interact with the line, maybe deep where they donsa国际传媒檛 see it and if they panic and roll, they get it around their tail stock and theysa国际传媒檙e screwed,sa国际传媒� Cottrell said.
He said the people who called his team for help did the right thing by staying back from the whales and observing until help arrived.
sa国际传媒淵ou really have to be careful when you come on scene to really assess before you start cutting, because if you make the wrong cut you can actually make things worse for the animal,sa国际传媒� he said.
Anyone who spots a whale stranded on the shore, entangled in fishing gear or otherwise in distress is asked to report the incident immediately to the 24-hour DFO marine mammal incident hotline at 1-800-465-4336.
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