A humpback whale that was disentangled from fishing gear and debris off Texada Island nearly two years ago has reappeared in the Salish Sea, this time accompanied by her first calf.
The sighting of the calf delighted scientists and rescuers but also highlighted the ongoing issue of whale entanglements along the BC coast. These entanglements, many unreported, persist even as humpbacks recover from near extinction.
“It’s fantastic news to see a new calf from a whale we helped,” said Paul Cottrell, head of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Marine Mammal Rescue unit. “It validates all the hard work and dedication of our team. Knowing we saved this whale feels great.”
The whale, BCY 0946 or Slits, was entangled in discarded steel rope and prawn-fishing gear in late October 2022. Cottrell received the distress call from Western Prince Whale Watching in the Strait of Georgia. Fisheries officers tagged the gear with a satellite device to track the whale’s movements.
Cottrell’s team located Slits and used a drone to observe that a steel rope was threaded through her mouth, causing fatigue and damage as she dragged the heavy equipment. The rescue was complicated by considerations for close-by companion whales. Strategic, careful cuts to the steel rope had to be made to free her.
“It was incredibly challenging but a huge relief when it all released.”
Paul Cottrell, head of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Marine Mammal Rescue unit
The approximately 13-year-old whale was spotted with her new calf on June 4 near San Juan Island by Michael Kurbatoff of Prince of Whales Whale Watching and more recently near Nanaimo by another company.
The sightings confirmed Slits is female, although her wintering grounds remain unknown. Humpbacks of the Salish Sea typically migrate to Hawaii or Mexico for calving and make the long journey to return in the spring to feed.
In 2022, 396 humpbacks were recorded around Vancouver Island, up from 293 five years earlier, marking the highest annual count since the Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea Project began over two decades ago.
Hunted to near extinction in the last century, humpbacks now face threats from climate change, ship strikes, and entanglements.
Jackie Hildering of the Marine Education and Research Society noted that Slits was first identified in 2011 and has returned annually. Since her disentanglement, she was sighted over 20 times last year, according to the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration.
While Slits’ story ended well, Hildering emphasized the many humpbacks that are never documented or rescued. MERS research, in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, estimates that around 50% of humpbacks bear scars from entanglements.
“This doesn’t account for those that die and sink or wash up undetected,” Hildering said.
Cottrell mentioned that there have been eight reports of whales ensnared in fishing gear this spring. A recent call about a humpback calf entangled near Tofino ended without locating the animal.
Hildering stressed that not all entangled whales will be found and rescued due to BC’s vast waters. She called for more boater education, resources for disentanglement, and an understanding of entanglement locations and mechanisms to mitigate risks at the source.
Cottrell noted that boaters are often crucial in reporting entanglements to DFO’s Incident Reporting Line (1-800-465-4336 / 1-800-GO-LIFE6), which plays a key role in their rescue efforts.
Erin Gless of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, representing around 30 whale-watching companies in the U.S. and Canada, highlighted the industry’s importance in monitoring whales. Whale watchers reported both Slits’ entanglement and the birth of her calf.
“These updates make our work as professional whale watchers truly worthwhile,” Gless said. “Without that initial report and DFO’s intervention, the outcome could have been very different. Slits and her calf might not be with us today.”
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