Marine mammal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a surge in whale entanglements this summer. Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal coordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, disclosed that his team has been attending to an average of one to two entanglements weekly over the past two months. This frequency aligns with the figures recorded last year, along with several necropsies.
Recently, their team was mobilized for the third time in less than two weeks to assist a humpback whale calf and its mother near the south coast of Vancouver Island. The calf was found ensnared in over 100 meters of rope, which it had been dragging since July 5 after going missing from B.C.’s central coast.
After a seven-hour operation in collaboration with U.S. counterparts, the team successfully freed the calf, an achievement Cottrell described as crucial for wildlife conservation efforts. This rescue followed two previous calls within days, one involving the disentanglement of a whale named Wiggins near French Creek and another in the Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island’s central coast.
Cottrell emphasized the increasing frequency of such incidents, attributing the rise to the coexistence of humpbacks in nearshore waters with fishing gear. While acknowledging the positive recovery of humpback populations due to conservation measures, he highlighted the concerning overlap with maritime activities.
Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), commended the successful conservation efforts that have granted humpback whales a “second chance” from near-extinction due to historical hunting practices. However, she expressed concerns about the persistence of entanglements, noting that many whales she has observed showed signs of past entanglements.
Hildering stressed the importance of prevention and education in mitigating entanglement risks, advocating for proactive measures to safeguard whale populations. She recommended taking a whale-safe boating course developed by MERS, endorsed by the federal government, to enhance public awareness and reduce human impact on marine wildlife.