Whale killed, another rescued off B.C.’s North Coast: DFO

A dramatic four-day rescue operation has successfully freed a humpback whale entangled in fishing gear in the Hecate Strait off British Columbia’s North Coast.   

Paul Cottrell, marine mammal co-ordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), was conducting a necropsy on a deceased fin whale in Prince Rupert, B.C., when he was alerted to the distressed humpback’s plight. 

“Our team was all there, all our equipment … so we actually went out with the satellite tag with the team and we were able to locate the whale,” he told CBC’s Radio West host Sarah Penton.

Cottrell said the team found the whale ensnared in an extensive array of fishing gear. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he added. “The animal couldn’t open its mouth and then the body wraps.”

WATCH | Rescuers free humpback whale from fishing gear:

Humpback whale rescued near Prince Rupert, B.C.

It’s been a difficult few weeks for whales on the North Coast. Two were recently found in distress — one survived, and one died.

The rescue operation, which involved more than 50 rope cuts, successfully freed the 11-metre-long whale, which Cottrell believes had accumulated the fishing gear over several months.

Without help from the rescue team, the mammal rescue co-ordinator says the humpback would have suffered a different fate.

But a 20-metre fin whale found in Prince Rupert Harbour was not as fortunate. Initial necropsy has revealed blunt force trauma as a possible cause of death, though the exact cause remains under investigation.

The number of whales becoming entangled in fishing gear has been increasing.

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that reports of entangled humpback and grey whales off the U.S. West Coast have surged from an average of 10 per year between 1982 and 2013 to 50 per year between 2014 and 2017. 

But with growing maritime traffic in northern B.C., cetaceans there face heightened risks, according to Janie Wray, CEO of B.C. Whales, a Canadian research nonprofit studying cetaceans in the province’s north. 

A major concern is an LNG Canada project, which is building a large liquefied natural gas terminal at Kitimat that is expected to significantly increase tanker traffic through the waters of Gitga’at First Nation.

“We believe that one of the reasons we have such a high abundance of humpback and fin whales in this region is because at the moment there’s not a lot of vessel traffic,” said Wray.

“It’s going to change dramatically overnight for them when these large vessels start to go through this area.”

In July, LNG Canada vice-president of corporate relations Teresa Waddington told CBC News that marine safety is the company’s “top priority.”

She said they’ll be following speed guidelines — no more than 10 knots, or about 18 km/h, through the narrow Douglas Channel. Only one ship will be permitted to come in at a time, Waddington said.

She adds there will be two people trained to pilot ships between the ocean and LNG’s loading facility.

“Those mariners know this waterway like the back of their hand. They are very local to the area and they’ll be helping ensure safe transit of the ships,” Waddington said.