The West Coast is cheering its local boating community that teamed up to help rescue a beloved mother humpback whale known regionally as 乌鸦传媒楶inky乌鸦传媒� last week.
The popular humpback has been freed of her entanglement and is now ready to head to her Hawaiian breeding grounds alongside her calf.
乌鸦传媒淥nce I heard that she had been freed of her entanglement, I felt a lot of relief, a lot of joy and also a lot of pride for the local community,乌鸦传媒� Sydney Dixon told the Westerly News on Sunday. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 such a great community out here of dedicated, hardworking people that really care about these animals, so it felt really good to know that the community coming together resulted in a happy ending.乌鸦传媒�
Dixon is the research and education director for Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society and also a zodiac skipper for Jamie乌鸦传媒檚 Whaling Station. She was onboard a Jamie乌鸦传媒檚 zodiac when she first spotted the distressed humpback struggling alongside a calf on Oct. 7.
乌鸦传媒淚 noticed her and her calf were really sticking to the shallows and she was trailing a float,乌鸦传媒� Dixon said, adding that if she had not seen the float, she might never have known Pinky needed help.
乌鸦传媒淯nless you see a float or visible entanglement, it can be really hard to just know from behaviour that a whale is in fact entangled,乌鸦传媒� she said.
She immediately reported her sighting to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and stayed with the whale until a DFO team arrived.
She said the DFO team was unable to get a tracking tag onto Pinky before the sun went down and lost sight of both her and her calf in the darkness.
乌鸦传媒淭he next morning, there was a massive relocation effort to try to find her,乌鸦传媒� Dixon said, adding the search party included SIMRS, Jamie乌鸦传媒檚, Subtidal Adventures, RCMP and DFO. 乌鸦传媒淎 big fleet of us went out and spread out over Barkley Sound to try to relocate this whale.乌鸦传媒�
She said the team was unable to relocate Pinky for two days and their stress magnified as the search wore on.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 definitely a lot of anxiety when you see an animal that you乌鸦传媒檙e emotionally attached to in distress, and frustration I would say as well with the entanglement and with fishing gear an issue for these animals,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚 was really worried that we weren乌鸦传媒檛 going to be able to re-sight her.乌鸦传媒�
Dixon was elated to hear Pinky had been relocated and freed of any visible entanglements on Friday, Oct. 15 and she touted the local whale watching community乌鸦传媒檚 efforts to rally around and rescue the animal.
乌鸦传媒淚t takes a village. There are so many people out there that really care about these animals and having trained eyes on the water that know what to look for, know how to identify whales, know their behaviour and really care about them is really beneficial,乌鸦传媒� she said.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a huge ocean out there. It would be a very daunting task for just (DFO) alone to have to canvas this huge area and look for this whale.乌鸦传媒�
Pinky is a popular staple on the West Coast乌鸦传媒檚 whale roster as she reliably returns to Barkley Sound every summer to feed and Dixon noted the urgency of her rescue was intensified as searchers feared her migration to Hawaii could be delayed, or prevented altogether.
乌鸦传媒淭ime was really of the essence for us to try and relocate this animal because now is the time where they will start their migration back to the breeding grounds,乌鸦传媒� she said.
Dixon hopes the incident serves as a reminder to always be responsible with fishing gear, noting that roughly 50 per cent of British Columbia乌鸦传媒檚 humpback population bears scarring from entanglements.
乌鸦传媒淔ishing is obviously culturally and economically really important in our area, but the gear can be a big issue for whales,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淭ake responsibility for your gear. Anything you put in the ocean should be responsibly taken out of the ocean when you乌鸦传媒檙e done using it because, if it乌鸦传媒檚 not, it can turn into a really big problem for the animals that call that space home.乌鸦传媒�
Anyone who spots a whale in distress is urged to immediately contact DFO乌鸦传媒檚 marine mammal response network at
Dixon stressed that no one should ever try to disentangle any marine mammal themselves.
乌鸦传媒淚f you cut off the visible entanglement that乌鸦传媒檚 at the surface, you could actually end up signing that whale乌鸦传媒檚 death certificate because it would be much, much, harder for professionals to then relocate that whale and identify it as an entangled individual,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 really important to let the experts and the professionals do that work for both the safety of the whale and yourself.乌鸦传媒�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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