Marine animal rescuers operating on Vancouver Island have reported a surge in whale entanglements this summer. Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal coordinator at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, stated that his team has been dealing with an average of one to two entanglements per week over the past two months, consistent with last year’s figures. They have also conducted several necropsies during this period. The most recent incident involved a humpback whale calf and its mother, which were discovered entangled in over 100 meters of rope near the southern coast of Vancouver Island. The team traced the gear and determined that the calf had been towing the rope since July 5, when it went missing from British Columbia’s central coast.

After receiving the distress call, the team spent seven hours working alongside U.S. counterparts to free the entangled calf. Earlier, they had responded to two separate entanglement cases within a span of two days. These incidents occurred near French Creek and the Alberni Inlet on the eastern and central coasts of Vancouver Island, respectively. Cottrell expressed concern about the increasing frequency of entanglements, noting that there is no decline in entanglement rates despite the growing presence of humpback whales in British Columbia’s coastal waters.

Jackie Hildering, a researcher and educator at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS), highlighted the successful conservation efforts that have given humpback whales a “second chance” after being nearly hunted to extinction. However, she cautioned that this opportunity is at risk of being wasted. Hildering emphasized that around half of the whales she has observed showed signs of previous entanglements, indicating a pervasive issue. She stressed that while disentanglements garner attention, they do not address the root problem. Hildering advocated for a focus on prevention and education, suggesting that these are more effective strategies. She recommended taking a whale-safe boating course developed by MERS, endorsed by the federal government, as a proactive step to prevent humpback entanglements and fatalities.