Marine mammal rescue teams on Vancouver Island are reporting a busy summer dealing with whale entanglements. Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal coordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, mentioned that his team has been responding to an average of one to two entanglements per week over the past two months, which aligns with last year’s figures. They have also conducted several necropsies during this period.
The most recent incident involved a humpback whale calf and its mother, found entangled in over 100 meters of rope near the south coast of Vancouver Island. The calf had been dragging the rope since July 5 when it went missing from B.C.’s central coast. Cottrell’s team, in collaboration with U.S. counterparts, spent seven hours untangling the calf, a rescue operation that was successfully completed.
Prior to this rescue, the team had responded to two entanglement cases in just two days. They freed a whale named Wiggins for the second time in a year near French Creek on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island before rushing to the Alberni Inlet on another call. Cottrell expressed concern over the increasing frequency of such incidents, with entanglement rates showing no signs of decline.
Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), highlighted the positive impact of conservation efforts on humpback whale populations, which have rebounded from near extinction. However, she cautioned that the current entanglement challenges are jeopardizing this progress. Hildering emphasized the importance of prevention and education in mitigating entanglement risks, advocating for informed boating practices to protect humpback whales in coastal waters.
The ongoing entanglement cases underscore the urgent need for collaborative efforts to safeguard marine wildlife and prevent further harm to whale populations along the British Columbia coast.
