Humpback Whale Freed From Fishing Net (Video)

Saving Valentina: Rescuing a Whale on Valentine’s Day

Michael Fishbach, cofounder of Earth Island Institute’s Great Whale Conservancy project, encountered a young humpback whale entangled in fishing nets, while boating in the Sea of Cortez in the Gulf of California on Valentine’s Day.

Here Fishbach tells the amazing story of how he and his family helped to save the giant mammal’s life, working against the clock as the animal had been caught up in the nets for some time and was terribly fatigued.

Both Fishbach and the whale found the situation unnerving, but were able to work together in close proximity to keep cutting away the net. At one point, the whale starts to swim away, dragging the boat with it due to the large amount of netting already hauled into the boat.

The whole incident is captured on camera with a touching happy ending to the story as the whale shows its joy, and perhaps its gratitude, at being free again.