Marine animal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a surge in whale entanglements this summer. Paul Cottrell, overseeing marine mammals at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, stated that his team has been dealing with one to two entanglements weekly for the past two months, mirroring last year’s figures. Additionally, they have conducted several necropsies. The most recent incident involved a humpback whale calf and its mother, discovered entangled in over 100 meters of rope near the south coast of Vancouver Island. The calf had been dragging the rope since July 5, after disappearing from British Columbia’s central coast.
The rescue team spent seven hours collaborating with U.S. counterparts to free the calf, marking the third activation in less than two weeks. Just prior, they had spent a day and a half disentangling a whale named Wiggins for the second time in a year near French Creek. Cottrell expressed concern over the increasing frequency of such incidents, with no apparent reduction in entanglement rates.
Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), highlighted the resurgence of humpback whales due to conservation efforts, offering them a “second chance” following near-extinction from hunting. However, she cautioned that this opportunity is at risk of being wasted. Hildering emphasized the importance of prevention and education over reactive disentanglement efforts, underscoring the need for long-term survival strategies for entangled whales. She advocated for increased awareness and education, recommending participation in MERS’ whale safe boating course endorsed by the federal government to help prevent humpback entanglements and fatalities.