It was 9am and Bryony, an intern with Whale Point, and myself, Janie Wray were just starting a day long whale survey when we received an urgent call from our whale research center located on Gil Island. A juvenile humpback whale just passed the lab and appeared to be entangled in a gill net. We turned back and were beside the struggling young whale within 15 minutes. It was immediately apparent that this situation was beyond our personal ability. Hermann, one of the researchers of Whale Point called Lisa Spaven at DFO and asked her if there was anything we could do. Her advice was for us to stay with the whale for as long as possible. That would not be a problem as the whale was only traveling 2 knots taking 2 to 3 breaths every 8 minutes. We knew this was going to be a long journey in to the night and we would not be able to take it on our own.

We called the Guardian Watchmen of Hartley Bay and within minutes Glen Reece and Robin Robinson were on the water to help us track the whale. By mid afternoon the whale had only traveled a short distance with the same routine of a few breaths followed by an 8 minute dive. It was not able to take a deep dive with all the fishing gear wrapped around its head and body. This included a buoy that was filled with water and a cork line that was dragging at least 40 feet behind the whale. The gill net itself was completely wrapped around the whale’s head, covering the blow hole. There was a good chance the young whale was not even able to open its mouth to feed. We assumed the net had not been on too long as the whale appeared to still have strength. We followed at a conservative distance of 300 meters away trying not to add any more stress to the situation. We knew the whale would not survive long under these conditions; we needed help soon.

Hermann called on the radio to say that Lisa Spaven from DFO was trying to find a way to get Paul Cottrell from DFO in Nanaimo to assist. He is one of the few people in BC that is trained to disentangle whales from ropes and fishing gear. The problem was we had no idea how we were ever going to get him up to Gil Island in time. Darkness was only hours away and it would be next to impossible to follow this whale without light. Our only chance was to ask King Pacific Lodge – a local ecotourism lodge in the area if we could get Paul on one of their flights. Leanne from KPL was fast to reply; they had a seat available but not until the next morning. We had to find a way to stay with this whale throughout the night.

Glen and Robin on the Guardian Watchmen (GW) boat took a break and went back to Hartley Bay to fuel up, grab coffee, food and a few sleeping bags for the night. We were all in open boats and the forecast was calling for rain and wind. I talked to Hermann; he was getting supplies ready for us to stay on our boat over night as well. Liam from King Pacific Lodge offered to pick up Hermann and bring him to the boat and drop Bryony off at the lab.  This allowed me to stay with the whale on our boat while the GW searched for some submersible lights. The plan was to attach the lights to the net trailing from the young whale so we could see him in the dark. They made several unsuccessful attempts-- each time the whale finding a way to elude the boat. Darkness soon surrounded us and it became apparent we would have to use another method to track the whale. Based upon our own experience we decided the best technique would be to use our ears. We followed the pattern of blows from the whale and hoped that no other whales would show up and confuse the situation. However, we quickly discovered that 3 other whales were in the area. We decided to split up, with one boat tracking each group of whales. The only factor working in our favour was a half moon rising over the mountain and the clear sky above adding a bit more light to this desperate situation. We were diligent but by 2am we had to face the fact that we had lost the whale. Still, there was no way we were going to give up.

We split up, Robin and Glen traveled back towards Whale Channel and we went further into McKay Reach. We would travel, stop, listen for a blow, and then move on again. Not a single sound was heard. We could feel a mixture of exhaustion and panic mixed together like a giant knot twisting in our stomachs. By 5am there was a hint a light. We continued to search but with no luck. By now we were soaked, fuel and morale were low and we decided a mad dash home was our best option for us all to have the strength to continue the search. The GW did the same and within an hour we were back on the water with dry clothes, hot coffee and spirits high that we would find the whale.

Mean while Paul Cottrell arrived from DFO 1030am, thanks to the kind efforts of KPL. We decided on the best routes to take so we could cover as much water as possible. We would make contact through the Coast Guard as our route would take us out of radio range. We traveled all the way down McKay then Fraser Reach and back, asking every boat along the way if they had seen this whale. We turned into Ursula Channel we would travel for a distance, and then shut our engine off to listen for blows. The DFO boat, with Paul onboard, also took Ursula, but followed the other shoreline. Just knowing that someone with his experience was in the area made us all try that much harder; we had to find this whale!! Then finally a miracle, we saw a blow further up the channel. We were just about to travel in that direction when Paul called us on the radio; this was the whale!! Our bodies dropped and it was in this moment we realized how adrenaline alone had kept us motivated for the last 30 hours.

There were fresh tears of relief on all our cheeks. But this was to be the easy part. The real struggle was about to unfold. How do you safely remove a net from a humpback whales head?

The DFO crew had to attach their boat to the trailing cork line in order to attach the whale to their boat. Not an easy task to perform or to witness. It took almost 3 hours of failed attempts with the humpback changing direction each time making it next to impossible to know where he would come up next to breathe. The whale was exhausted and stressed. If only we could somehow communicate with this wonder of the sea and let him know we just wanted to help.

We stayed to the side with the Guardian Watchmen hoping for success when finally a scream from the DFO boat – they were attached! The whale was dragging their boat so they quickly raised their outboards. What we witnessed next was a group of men working so tightly together, their calmness and level of professionalism was inspirational. We were amazed how each person reacted, there was no shouting or signs of stress, only a high degree of confidence that comes from each person knowing their role and performing it well.  They worked in silent coordination, performing complex tasks in a trying situation with each other and with the whale. If anyone could save this little whale it would be these men.

Each time the whale would come up to breathe the slack in the rope was an opportunity to wench in the lines and bring the whale in a bit closer to the boat. Minutes became hours with each cut of the gill net inching themselves closer to the whale. The closer the whale was to the boat the more frantic he became, which created a more dangerous situation for everyone involved. When the humpback would surface a tonal blow or cry of distress would echo over the water; it was the most heart wrenching sound one could hear and a frightening scene to observe but necessary if this whale was to be saved. We noticed that a young sea lion was now following the boat, his head high out of the water trying to understand what was happening to his marine companion.

Finally the whale was close enough to try and remove the first lead line that was wrapped around the body. We knew when there was success as this was accompanied by a loud cheer that would explode into the air. Our concern was not only for the whale, the brave men from DFO were also in danger. The whale, at times, would charge, twisting the boat in all directions. The chances of one of these men falling in the frigid waters were great. At one point the whale turned towards land as if he would ram the boat against shore; fortunately this did not happen.

We noticed Paul looking at his watch and we knew why, it was already 8pm.Since locating the whale 7 hours had passed and darkness was an hour away. If they were not able to free the whale before dark we had no idea what they would do. This is when the whale did something that startled us all. He moved under the boat, over to the side as if he was planning to roll the boat. They were lucky this was a small juvenile. Had it been a full grown adult it is hard to say what would have happened. From under the boat we could see his head completely covered in the net with one line ripping into his blow hole.

Then everything happened so fast...

We heard a rip, rip, rip sound and in stunned silence we realized that the whale used the pressure of boat to release itself from the net.  We immediately turned our boat to follow the whale. Oh my god, to see this young whale swim free, his body finally able to move with the true grace of a humpback filled every part of my soul with pure gratitude.  With his first breath we could see that there were no longer any nets or ropes pulling or cutting through the skin. This whale will be scarred for life from this experience, but he now has a chance at life. We took one last picture as the whale sped through the water into the mist of Ursula Channel. We had a quick chat with Paul and his team; it was too bad it was getting dark as we would have been keen to hear what they had experienced. We knew we had to make a dash home as it was not only getting dark, but a south east storm was brewing.

These last 48 hours had shown us once again how this tiny yet powerful community along the isolated north coast of BC can join together, each of us giving our all to save this young whale. We give thanks to the Guardian Watchmen - Glen Reece, Robin Robinson and Alex Clifton who stayed with us alongside the whale until help arrived. To Leanne and the staff at King Pacific Lodge who without hesitation put Paul on a flight from Vancouver. Without Paul Cottrell and his crew from DFO, Brian Gyorfi, Garry Otto and Jason Dave this whale would have suffered a slow death. Thank you for your diligence and unique expertise and the opportunity to see true heroes at work.

To the humpback whale, who needs a name: be well, be safe and live long.

We will have a video posted on this website as well on Utube in the next few days of this entire event, the footage is just amazing!!