A tuber whale has been rescued off Canada’s west coast after a four-day struggle caught on video.
A team from Fisheries and Oceans Canada Marine Mammal Rescue managed to free the whales from being entangled in over 50 ropes, fishing gear and floats.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Paul Cottrell, marine mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told CBC radio. “The animal could not open its mouth and then enclose the body.”
The operation took place between September 2 and 6 when Cottrell conducted an autopsy on a deceased fin whale in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
“Our team was there, all our equipment … so we actually went out with the satellite tag with the team and we were able to locate the whales,” Cottrell told the radio station.
The department credited the successful release of the whales to the rescue team and provincial fisheries officers in a statement to USA TODAY Monday.
Watch: Whale saved after four days of struggle
Election complications on the rise
The number of large whale pods on the US West Coast is increasing, according to information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In 2007, nine entanglements were recorded along the west coast, jumping to 46 in 2015. The number dropped in 2020 but rose to 20 in 2021 and 26 in 2022.
There were 67 major election tangles off all US coasts in 2022.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Watch humpback whale entangled in fishing gear be freed after 4 days