Marine mammal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a surge in whale entanglements this summer. According to Paul Cottrell, who heads the marine mammal team at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, they have been dealing with an average of one to two entanglements per week over the past two months, mirroring last year’s figures. Alongside these incidents, they have also conducted several necropsies.
The latest entanglement case occurred last week, marking the team’s third activation in less than two weeks. The distress call involved a humpback whale calf and its mother, discovered near the south coast of Vancouver Island ensnared in over 100 meters of rope. Tracking the gear, the team determined that the calf had been entangled since July 5, when it went missing from British Columbia’s central coast.
After a seven-hour operation, in collaboration with U.S. counterparts, the team successfully freed the calf, a moment Cottrell described as “amazing” and uplifting for the team. Preceding this rescue, they had responded to two entanglement incidents within two days, including disentangling a whale named Wiggins for the second time in a year near French Creek on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island.
Cottrell noted the increasing frequency of these incidents, attributing it to the rising presence of humpback whales in British Columbia’s inshore waters, a positive outcome known as the “humpback comeback.” However, this resurgence has led to a concerning overlap with inshore fishing gear, posing entanglement risks.
Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), highlighted the conservation progress that has provided humpback whales a “second chance” after being nearly hunted to extinction. Despite this, she expressed concerns over the ongoing entanglement issues, emphasizing the need for prevention and education as more effective approaches than reactive disentanglements.
Hildering stressed the importance of informing the public about preventing humpback entanglements and fatalities, advocating for participation in MERS’ whale safe boating course endorsed by the federal government to mitigate such incidents.