On June 30, a young whale caught in fishing gear was spotted near Shippagan, New Brunswick. The Campobello Whale Rescue Team (CWRT) played a crucial role in freeing the one-and-a-half-year-old whale during an operation in the St. Lawrence Estuary on Wednesday.
Whale Rescuers Celebrate as Young North Atlantic Right Whale Freed from Fishing Gear in St. Lawrence.
A team of rescuers cheered and celebrated Wednesday after successfully freeing a young whale entangled in fishing gear in the St. Lawrence Estuary. The whale, believed to be one of the calves of a 35-year-old female named War (ID number 1812), was first spotted on June 22 off New Brunswick already ensnared in the gear.
Mackie Greene, director of whale rescue at the Canadian Whale Institute and lead disentangler, had been tracking the one-and-a-half-year-old female across eastern Quebec and the Maritimes in hopes of this moment. "It's been quite a journey... You feel so ecstatic, so happy that you almost want to run all the way home," Greene said with a chuckle. "There's no feeling like it, and that's why we do what we do."
When first discovered in New Brunswick, the young whale was entangled with fishing gear resembling a "horse bridle" tightly wound around its mouth, flippers, and back. "The ropes were really tight, and as she grows, they would have cut into her severely," Greene explained.
Despite previous attempts by Greene and the Campobello Whale Rescue Team (CWRT), Wednesday's operation, partly coordinated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), marked the final effort to free the calf. "We managed to remove most of the rope, except for a few small pieces trailing from the right side of her mouth... but those should come out naturally," Greene said. "I'm cautiously optimistic."
The team fitted a tracker on the whale to monitor its movements and reported that she appears to be in good health.
Using long poles from a small boat, the team approached the juvenile whale cautiously. "As you approach these whales, their first instinct is to dive," Greene noted. "You have to be careful because their tails can be powerful... We do get knocked around a bit, and occasionally the whale slaps the boat."
Coincidentally, the rescue took place on the seventh anniversary of the death of Joe Howlett, a colleague and friend of Greene's who died while attempting to free an entangled whale that struck him with its tail. "I think he was really there to assist us today," Greene reflected. "We all care deeply about the whales, we're all seafarers, and we care about the ocean and everything in it. We've made our livelihoods from the sea, so it's rewarding to give back."
Robert Michaud, coordinator for Quebec's marine mammal emergency response team, expressed relief at the successful intervention. "The coordination among the teams involved in these operations was impressive. We had multiple teams from Fisheries and Oceans providing support on the water and from the air," Michaud said.
"It's a tough start to life... Hopefully, this marks the beginning of a better journey." The whale, still too young to be named, will have plenty of name options when the time comes, Michaud added, humorously suggesting "Hope" as a fitting choice.
