Mission Success!

Experts from America and the UK took time out of their own lives and careers to come and untangle a humpback whale that has been seen from our whale watching boats since the 31st July. This whale was in a bad shape, especially around the tail and we were very concerned by it. We tried our own mission about a week ago but without the proper knowledge onsite, our efforts were unsuccessful. This time we had the expertise we needed and after 2 days or 19 hours later our mission was a success. Members of IFAW US and British Marine Mammal Entanglement team (http://www.bdmlr.org.uk) came together to help untangle this poor animal and provide much needed advice for future entanglements. The whale was first attached with buoys to slow the animal down, exhaust it, so they could get close then with the right tools and timing they could cut the micro-filament gillnet that was caught in the mouth and tightly wound around the tail. Bit by bit it came off. Overnight the whale was attached with a satellite transmitter so that we could find it at ease the following day and at 6am this morning we were off for round two finding the whale about 18km from where we left it. It still has a bit of net attached but this will fall of in time. After the net was cut and loose the whale seemed in good spirits and raised it´s tail nice and high showing us that´s it ok. An intense but educational and inspiring experience. Let see if Nettie will be seen in the bay again soon, We will keep you posted