image via – youtube.com
When somethings wrong and a Humpback whale needs rescuing, who do you call? For crab fisherman working in the waters off of the coast of San Francisco, California, the answer was the Marine Mammal Center. As soon as they received the call a team of volunteers and divers was immediately assembled and they quickly set out to find the stricken whale. Time was of the essence and they knew they had to locate the poor whale before he disappeared and was lost to the vast ocean forever.
When they finally found the massive mammal they assessed the situation and noticed that it had become trapped in a messy tangle of ropes. There were many different lines that had become wrapped all around its body and they had started to dig deep into the skin.
The painful lacerations were slowly weakening and sapping the whale of its strength, and making it vulnerable to predators. Without help and human intervention, the whale would never untangle itself and would surely die a slow and painful death.
Working among the team that day back in December was an experienced diver and animal activist named James Moskito. He had done high risk rescues for over 25 years, some with the military, and was the first to enter the water. Moskito began the long arduous process of cutting the whale free from the ropes and described the mess tangled around it as being equal to a 3,000 pound anchor.
He explained that “Some of the individual ropes went into the blubber two or three inches deep. I put my hand on the whale and I told the whale, ‘OK. This is gonna hurt.’ The whale was so cooperative, it would open its mouth and a guy would put his hand up inside of it and pull pieces of rope out of the baleen one by one.”
All the while the whale remained near the surface and never acted aggressive towards any of the divers. He simply floated calmly over the course of the five hours that it took before he was finally freed of his chains.
Once the Humpback was clear to go, an extraordinary and wholly unexpected thing happened. Instead of leaving the divers, it dove down below them and then back up to the surface, right to where James was. The gentle giant then slowly swam in circles and approached his rescuers, rubbing up against each one of them in turn to express its gratitude and thanks for the help.
Moskito said that “It seemed kind of affectionate, like a dog that’s happy to see you. I never felt threatened. It was an amazing, unbelievable experience.” It’s something you have to see to believe and truly appreciate, so check out the video of the incredible rescue and relive the experience!
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