Marine mammal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a high number of whale entanglements during this summer. Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal co-ordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, mentioned that his team has been dealing with approximately one to two entanglements per week over the past two months, consistent with the figures from the previous year. Additionally, they have conducted several necropsies. The most recent incident involved a humpback whale calf and its mother near the south coast of Vancouver Island, entangled in over 100 meters of rope.

After tracking the gear, Cottrell’s team discovered that the calf had been ensnared since July 5 after going missing from B.C.’s central coast. Working alongside U.S. counterparts, the team successfully freed the calf after a seven-hour operation.

Notably, there were two other entanglement calls within two days prior to this incident. The team spent time disentangling a whale named Wiggins for the second time in a year near French Creek on Vancouver Island’s eastern coast before rushing to the central Island and the Alberni Inlet for another entanglement rescue.

Cottrell expressed concern about the increasing frequency of entanglements, attributing it to the growing presence of humpback whales in British Columbia’s inshore waters. While acknowledging the positive aspect of humpback whale conservation efforts, he highlighted the challenge posed by the overlap with inshore fishing gear.

Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), emphasized that despite the positive conservation efforts leading to a “second chance” for humpback whales, there is a risk of squandering this opportunity. She stated that a significant percentage of whales she has observed show signs of previous entanglements, indicating a potentially underestimated problem.

Hildering stressed the importance of prevention and education as more effective measures than reactive disentanglements. She advocated for increased awareness and education on preventing humpback whale entanglements, recommending participation in a whale-safe boating course developed by MERS with federal government endorsement.