Marine mammal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a busy summer season dealing with incidents of whale entanglements. Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal coordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, mentioned that his team has responded to an average of one to two entanglements weekly over the past two months. This rate aligns with the figures from the previous year, and they have also conducted several necropsies during this period.
The latest entanglement call occurred last week, marking the third activation of Cottrell’s team in less than two weeks. The distress call involved a humpback whale calf, along with its mother, entangled in over 100 meters of rope near the south coast of Vancouver Island. Upon investigation, the team discovered that the calf had been dragging the rope since July 5, when it was reported missing from British Columbia’s central coast.
Following a seven-hour operation, Cottrell’s team successfully freed the calf in collaboration with U.S. counterparts. He expressed satisfaction in saving the calf, emphasizing the importance of each animal’s rescue. Prior to this incident, two entanglement calls were received within two days. The team spent significant time disentangling a whale named Wiggins for the second time within a year near French Creek on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island before rushing to the Alberni Inlet on another call.
Cottrell highlighted the increasing frequency of such incidents, indicating a worrying trend with no apparent decrease in entanglement rates. He noted the rise in humpback whale presence in British Columbia’s inshore waters as a positive development but expressed concerns about the overlapping risks with inshore fishing gear.
Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), acknowledged the successful conservation efforts that have offered humpback whales a “second chance” after being nearly hunted to extinction. However, she cautioned that this opportunity might be slipping away. Hildering shared observations suggesting that a significant percentage of the whales she has studied exhibited signs of past entanglements, possibly indicating a larger problem than commonly perceived.
She emphasized the need for preventative measures and education as more effective solutions, pointing out that while disentanglements yield positive outcomes, they may not ensure the long-term survival of the whales. Hildering advocated for greater awareness on preventing humpback entanglements and deaths, promoting the participation in a whale-safe boating course developed by MERS, which has received federal government endorsement.
