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One lucky whale was rescued by a fisherman last month. The incident occurring off the coast of Central California while a crew was fishing for eels. The fisherman, Sam Synstelien, jumped into the rescue the trapped humpback whale.
The whale had a thick rope wrapped around its tail and back. The rope was limiting the whale’s ability to swim correctly. That’s how the fishermen spotted the rope. The whale was swimming in an odd way which warranted a closer look.
Synstelien jumped from the boat into the water and swam towards the whale. Once he was close enough he started cutting the rope away from the whale. Eventually, he was able to completely free the whale from the entanglement.
Everyone involved, including the whale, survived the incident. However, according to officials jumping into the water was unnecessary and may be dangerous. According to a spokesman, “We’ve had people die trying to get in the water, and just last year, we lost one of our responders. Even though it seems like it’s a very stressful situation, we usually have days, weeks, sometimes even months to find these animals and get this gear off.”
If you see a whale in distress, then please call the local marine mammal hotline.
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