Search continues for entangled whale in Bay of Fundy

Capt. Mackie Greene with the Campobello Whale Rescue Team received a call from the Marine Animal Response Society dispatcher just before noon on July 9.

The whale was spotted by Captain Roy Small and the crew of the MV Island Link, during a whale watching excursion.

They reported its predicament, then monitored it for as long as they could before arranging for another boat to take over.

Capt. Greene expressed appreciation for their commitment.

“That’s what makes this all possible, not only because they reported the whale but they stood by… if they would have left, we would hardly ever find the whale again,” he said.

Although he had to cancel a whale watching tour for the rescue, Capt. Greene says the majority of passengers commiserated.

It didn’t take long for him and his assistants (Robert Fitzsimmons and Joe Hallett) to speed across the bay from Campobello in their fast rescue craft.

They covered the 50 miles at close to 35 knots.

Arriving on the scene, they found a juvenile humpback whale with a lot of rope entangled on his tail stock.

“He never did fluke up so we couldn’t see the tail. There was just rope, no buoys or traps,” said Capt. Greene.

There was also a bright yellow coil of rope on the left side of the animal. Capt. Greene noted that the whale was still “free swimming” and “plenty strong” although the rope was starting to chafe him a little.

“It’s working back and forth every time he moves. At this point it isn’t something that won’t heal but he’ll be scarred for life,” he said.

He and his crew tried approaching the whale, digging deep in their bag of old whaler tricks. The 40-foot humpback was close to twice the length of their 24-foot zodiac.

The men repeatedly threw a grapple at the ball of rope, trying to hook it in the fishing gear in hopes of fastening a balloon on the whale to enable easier snagging.

“That way, when he starts coming up, the balloon would come up before him and we’d have a chance to get there before he surfaces,” he said.

Captain Roy Small had returned to the site and communicated the whale’s location to the rescue team each time the animal surfaced. He avoided the boats by waiting over 10 minutes between each surfacing.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans also sent out a boat from Digby to assist with the rescue.

Although they came within inches of success, six hours later at 8 o’clock, they had to call the mission off.

“Where we had such a long sail back across the bay we figured we’d better call it. It was getting so late we wouldn’t have had much daylight to work,” said Capt. Greene.

He added that he still thought it possible to disentangle the snarl of line around the whale.

“Once we get a control line on him we can put the boat in behind the whale and let him tow us along and then we can reach forward with our long poles and cutters and cut the rope,” he said.

“We’re all ready to go again,” he said on Friday.

Whale watching boats in the area are on alert for the whale.  

“We’re just waiting for a call. I’m pretty hopeful that once a bunch of the boats get out and around they’ll find him again. That’s what we’re waiting for now,” he said.

Mariners are requested to call the rescue hotline if they spot the whale. The line operates 24/7: 1-866-567-6277 MARS (Marine Animal Response Society).

Capt. Greene says Thursday was his 44th birthday and that on the way across the mirror-like bay he kept thinking that if the team had succeeded in freeing the whale it would have been one of his best birthday presents ever.

Capt. Mackie Greene with the Campobello Whale Rescue Team received a call from the Marine Animal Response Society dispatcher just before noon on July 9.

The whale was spotted by Captain Roy Small and the crew of the MV Island Link, during a whale watching excursion.

They reported its predicament, then monitored it for as long as they could before arranging for another boat to take over.

Capt. Greene expressed appreciation for their commitment.

“That’s what makes this all possible, not only because they reported the whale but they stood by… if they would have left, we would hardly ever find the whale again,” he said.

Although he had to cancel a whale watching tour for the rescue, Capt. Greene says the majority of passengers commiserated.

It didn’t take long for him and his assistants (Robert Fitzsimmons and Joe Hallett) to speed across the bay from Campobello in their fast rescue craft.

They covered the 50 miles at close to 35 knots.

Arriving on the scene, they found a juvenile humpback whale with a lot of rope entangled on his tail stock.

“He never did fluke up so we couldn’t see the tail. There was just rope, no buoys or traps,” said Capt. Greene.

There was also a bright yellow coil of rope on the left side of the animal. Capt. Greene noted that the whale was still “free swimming” and “plenty strong” although the rope was starting to chafe him a little.

“It’s working back and forth every time he moves. At this point it isn’t something that won’t heal but he’ll be scarred for life,” he said.

He and his crew tried approaching the whale, digging deep in their bag of old whaler tricks. The 40-foot humpback was close to twice the length of their 24-foot zodiac.

The men repeatedly threw a grapple at the ball of rope, trying to hook it in the fishing gear in hopes of fastening a balloon on the whale to enable easier snagging.

“That way, when he starts coming up, the balloon would come up before him and we’d have a chance to get there before he surfaces,” he said.

Captain Roy Small had returned to the site and communicated the whale’s location to the rescue team each time the animal surfaced. He avoided the boats by waiting over 10 minutes between each surfacing.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans also sent out a boat from Digby to assist with the rescue.

Although they came within inches of success, six hours later at 8 o’clock, they had to call the mission off.

“Where we had such a long sail back across the bay we figured we’d better call it. It was getting so late we wouldn’t have had much daylight to work,” said Capt. Greene.

He added that he still thought it possible to disentangle the snarl of line around the whale.

“Once we get a control line on him we can put the boat in behind the whale and let him tow us along and then we can reach forward with our long poles and cutters and cut the rope,” he said.

“We’re all ready to go again,” he said on Friday.

Whale watching boats in the area are on alert for the whale.  

“We’re just waiting for a call. I’m pretty hopeful that once a bunch of the boats get out and around they’ll find him again. That’s what we’re waiting for now,” he said.

Mariners are requested to call the rescue hotline if they spot the whale. The line operates 24/7: 1-866-567-6277 MARS (Marine Animal Response Society).

Capt. Greene says Thursday was his 44th birthday and that on the way across the mirror-like bay he kept thinking that if the team had succeeded in freeing the whale it would have been one of his best birthday presents ever.