TOFINO, British Columbia — Seattle Times

John Forde knew the juvenile humpback whale, entangled in seven bright orange-and-white crab floats and 100 yards of line, was fighting for its life in these remote waters off Clayoquot Sound.
The floats kept the 1- to 2-year-old mammal close to the water's surface, tiring it out and preventing it from diving deep to get free.
The gear scarred its back. Blubber and flesh were easily visible.
Even a crab line was caught in the 26-foot-long animal's mouth.
"He was in big trouble," Forde said Monday.

On Sunday evening, Forde and four other volunteer rescuers associated with the Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society went to work in the cold, choppy waters off Cow Bay, located near Flores Island and Ahousat, British Columbia.
Working from an open-decked Boston Whaler, Forde heaved on the ropes and brought the mammal close enough so other volunteers could cut the gear with a pole equipped with a hooked knife.

After 45 minutes of dangerous work, the volunteers removed six of the seven floats and almost all the rope. A length attached to the mammal's left pectoral fin remained.
When the whale was almost completely free, it took off, covering huge distances and leaving the rescuers too far behind to finish their work.

Lisa Spaven, a marine mammal research coordinator with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said the volunteers saved the whale from a likely death.
"I'm very pleased with the outcome," she said.
"With that amount of gear encumbering the animal, it would have been eventually unable to feed and continue normal life processes, leading to its likely death."


Cases like this are nothing new to the Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society, a Tofino-based, nonprofit organization that performs rescues under the authority of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Forde said over the years, he's participated in eight to 10 rescues, of which five or six have been successful.
Rod Palm, one of the rescue crew, said they recovered registration numbers from the floats, which appear to have come from Washington state.

Fisheries officers were investigating the origin of the floats.