A North Atlantic right whale has been freed from fishing gear a week after being spotted off Grand Manan.
Members of the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station located the whale around 5 p.m. on Sunday.
They called in Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Campobello Whale Rescue Team to help disentangle it.
Jerry Conway, a marine mammal advisor with the rescue team, told our newsroom it was a slow process to free the whale.
“The whale was fairly evasive but they were able to work slowly and were able to calm the whale and were able to get alongside close enough to cut away most of the line,” Conway said, adding the rest of the line should fall off as the whale feeds and swims.
ALERT: The entangled #RightWhale off Grand Manan Island #NB was located this afternoon and fishing gear was removed this evening.
Thanks to Campobello Whale Rescue Team, @GMWSRS, Marine Animal Response Society, and our #FisheryOfficers who played a part in this rescue.
— Fisheries and Oceans (@FishOceansCAN) August 6, 2018
Conway said they are hopeful the mammal will survive because he resumed normal diving activities after the line was cut.
The whale was first spotted last Monday and there were concerns officials would not be able to find him again.
“They can swim a considerable distance in a fairly short time, even at three knots [per hour],” Conway said.
Conway said there are fewer than 500 North Atlantic right whales and this particular one will be an important part of the reproduction of the population.
He emphasized the whale rescue team is made up of commercial fishermen who give up their time to carry out these operations.
(File photo: Canadian Whale Institute/New England Aquarium)
