A group of divers saved a whale trapped in a fishing net and you’ll never guess what the whale did. Next whale sightings are rather uncommon off the coast of Spain’s Balearic Islands. So when a 40 feet 12 meter long humpback whale was spotted near maloka. It attracted a good deal of attention. The poor whale had gotten trapped in a drift net and could not free itself.
A passing boat first took note of the animal and deployed divers from Palma, demoloka’s aquarium to attempt to free it. However, the Marine rescue center was not successful and, to their dismay, the whale appeared to weaken from its constraints. Humpback whales are luckily easy to spot, given their massive size, which is roughly equivalent to that of a school bus. Humpback whales migrate through the oceans depending on the time of year, what distinguishes them from other whales is their Curious nature. Their huge pectoral fins dark backs and light bellies, and most notably, the hump in front of their Dorsal fins their namesake.
Given these characteristics, the Palmar de mallorca’s aquarium was able to quickly identify the animal as a humpback whale and understand the pressing danger it was in. Since commercial whaling was banned back in the 80s, the biggest threat to the lives of Wales is collisions with boats, and you guessed it getting tangled up in fishing equipment like Nets. The whale’s life was in danger and people had to act fast to rescue it. If this Marine Center could not save the whale, was there anyone that could well the occupants of the boat reported back to Mallorca, the nearest of Spain’s malaric Islands to communicate the dire situation and request Aid? Luckily, two diving centers promptly responded to the call divers from squallo and Albatross.
Diving centers quickly met up with the boat, roughly three miles: five kilometers off the coast. After assessing the situation, the team decided they would have to send in for expert divers with handheld knives to cut the net off the whale by hand. This was not just any fishing net either the whale was Tangled Up in an illegal drift. Net. Drift Nets were actually banned decades ago by the United Nations because of the damage they caused to marine life.
These giant Nets are designed to collect vast arrays of fish and Aquatic Life rather than targeting a specific animal. Not only does this greatly impact the local ecosystem, but it also produces a lot of waste, since organisms trapped in the net were often disposed of, if they could not be eaten or sold by the fishermen because of the disruptions to the biosphere and the unnecessary killing Of large amounts of marine life drift Nets are now illegal. Unfortunately, for this humpback whale, some fishes still use the illegal Nets anyways. In this case, the dangerous red net was wrapped around almost the whale’s whole body. This restricted the whale’s mobility and made it very difficult for it to swim properly.
To make matters worse, the net had also wrapped the whale’s mouth shut. The whale was in a very bad situation and its Health was declining fast, wasting no time the four divers jumped in the water and got to work right away. The divers knew they had to work fast and efficiently, but carefully so as not to upset the whale. Any more than it already was, it was an unpredictable scene as it was a wild animal. After all, the rescue mission could go both ways.
Still, the dedicated experts were determined to try their hardest to Free the Animal from its suffering Gigi Torres a 32 year old marine biologist was one of these incredible divers Gigi owns and operates the albatross Diving Center in Spain and has worked extensively with marine life in The past, even with all that prior experience, there was still something very unique and special about this encounter Gigi described the experience, interacting with the whale with Wonder and appreciation. It’S not every day you get to interact with a huge humpback whale. After all, the beginning was tense, as the divers jumped in the water and swam towards the bound and desperate whale. Apparently, the whale was displaying some trepidation upon seeing the diver’s approach. According to Gigi’s assessment of its body, language, Gigi said the bubble stirred up from their swimming in particular, seemed to make the whale nervous, but the divers remained calm and coordinated, demonstrating their desire to help the poor creature and hopefully, to put it at ease.
The divers started at the whale’s head first cutting the net carefully to free its mouth and then working their way down its body. The rescue mission was extremely well coordinated, even though the divers reported barely having to discuss a plan of action together. It was as if they all knew what parts to play and how to best go about saving the humpback whale. The divers surrounded the whale so as to cut the net from all angles and avoid any snagging or unnecessary strain on the already injured whale they had to be careful with their knives, not wanting to cause the whale, any more pain or distress. Just imagine the nerve-wracking scene here or better yet watch the footage, four divers, looking so small next to a distressed, giant whale in a vast body of water and not to mention the other potential dangers of other sea animals lurking around.
It is a huge credit to their teamwork and masterful Aquatic knowledge that they could get to work so quickly and, let’s not forget the diver’s bravery, they were the right people for the job. In what seemed like no time the experts had completed the first part of their daunting task. The whale’s mouth was free. That must have been quite a relief for the whale. What happened next was absolutely magical.
Gigi said that as they worked at cutting the net, the whales seemed to understand that they were there to help. It was not like he could move, but he could have made the diver’s job more difficult by thrashing around out of fear, but actually he surprisingly did just the opposite. The whale actually started, working together with the divers, the humpback whale relaxed and remained still so they could work even faster understanding, the whale’s body language, the divers diligently cut away at the net while safely avoiding the whale’s flesh in less than an hour just 45 minutes. The net that had been covering the whale’s entire body was gone. They worked from head to tail so that the whale could simply swim out of the net at the end of the process According To Gigi.
At the end, the whale gave a little wiggle to cast off the restraints of the net on its tail. Finally, the whale was free again free to move again free to swim again. To everyone’s surprise, the whale did not swim away immediately after being set free. It hung around the divers for a brief period, presumably to regain some strength. Gigi described the time swimming with the humpback whale as simply incredible and like it was quote out of this world.
The divers remained in the water with the whale unsure. If it was hanging around out of a need for more assistance over the passing minutes, though, the whale became stronger and was able to gently swim around with the divers. It was only the third time a humpback whale has ever been seen in this area, so it was a very special moment. Indeed. Gigi’S day in particular, was a special one.
It was also her birthday, Gigi saved the life of this beautiful mammal and even got to swim around and interact with it. On her birthday, she executed an amazing underwater rescue with her marine-loving peers to top things off. The whale made this day, even more incredible for Gigi prepare for your heart to melt at the Well’s response to being freed by these courageous divers. The whale eventually gained enough strength to confidently leave the protective circle with the divers they expected it to just swim away, like most other animals would have done, but this whale had made friends with the divers it couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye in what the divers All agreed was a deliberate gesture. The whale gave a thank you sign before swimming away.
This beautiful moment of gratitude and mutual appreciation is the reason why Gigi says this was her best birthday present ever. It is always so nice to see kindness reciprocated, but it is especially magical when that happens between two completely different animal species. Would you have jumped in the sea to save this beautiful, creature’s life? Let us know what you would have done in Gigi’s situation.