Humpback whale rescued from lobster gear in Bay of Fundy

A team of rescuers managed to free a humpback whale caught up in lobster gear in the Bay of Fundy on Tuesday.

A Maine-based whale watching boat first alerted theCampobelloWhale Rescue Team of the whale in distress.

The Campobello teamsuccessfully disentangled the struggling leviathan, roughly 80 kilometres offshore in the Bay of Fundy, according to a release from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

He was definitely happy to be free, you could tell. He was really robust when he was coming up to the surface for that breath of air. It's a great feeling to see that.- Mackie Green, rescuer

The rescuedwhale is familiar to the area and based on the unique scars and patterns on its fluke, the Centerfor Coastal Studies identified it as nine-year-old "Hangglide."

MackieGreen, who is withtheCampobelloWhale Rescue Team, said the whale was in distress when they arrived.

[The whale] was getting tired out, with just the weight of all this gear, towing that around and trying to get to the surface. He was pretty distressed, he said.

• LISTEN | Rescuer recountsBay of Fundy whale drama

He was tangled in two lobster trawls. I think he probably got tangled in the first one and was dragging it, and got tangled in the second one. So I would estimate about 60 lobster traps with the two lobster trawls that he was trying to tow around there.

Since humpbacksmust resurface to breathe, it would have not survived long on the sea floor.

Were lucky it was a clear day, said Green. If there had been bad weather, that whale could have easily drowned before we got to him.

Boat served as flotation device

Since the rescue took place so far offshore,Greene asked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for safety support. DFOsenttwovessels to accompany the team's Zodiac.

In order to get close enoughto disentangle Hangglide, the teamattached their boat to the whale.

We were in a Zodiac, a fast-rescue craft, and we have a lot of specialized tools that we use. We have a rope-jamming grapple. We actually grapple into the lobster gear that was trailing off the whale and pull that up and we actually tied that right to the boat and let the whale tow us around for a Nantucket sleigh ride, said Green.

After four hours of painstaking work, the team was thenable to cut the whale free.

We finally cut him clear and he made a slow circle around us in the boat, and I dont know if he was saying thank you or just thought he was still tangled up but he made a slow circle around our boast and then headed off to the east, toward Nova Scotia, at a pretty good clip, said Green.

He was definitely happy to be free, you could tell. He was really robust when he was coming to the surface for that breath of air. You know, its a great feeling to see that.

Its extremely dangerous work, and these guys are all volunteers, theyre fishermen, said Andrea Krebs, speaking for theIFAW.

Humpback whales are easily identified by their white belly, dark-coloured back and massive pectoral fins, which can measure up to 4.5 metres in length the longestappendages in the animal kingdom.

According to DFO, the whales migrate through Canadian waters twice peryear and are a common sight in Maritime waters during the summer.

Green said it's important to protect marine species.

I just think its good stewardship and just being responsible. I think thats the way people have to be nowadays. If youre going to work in a marine environment, youve got to take care of it. Its just a way of giving back a little bit, he said.

If a distressed whale is spotted, IFAW has a toll-free number you can call: 1-866-567-6277.