“Last month, a 12-meter-long humpback whale was discovered trapped in an illegal fishing net in the waters off the coast of Mallorca Island, Spain. Upon receiving the information, local divers immediately rushed to the scene and eventually managed to rescue the giant creature.
The incident occurred on May 20th local time when the massive humpback whale was found about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Mallorca Island. It was entangled in a red-colored illegal drifting net, tightly wrapped to the extent that it couldn’t open its mouth and appeared severely weakened.
In fact, this is the third time a humpback whale has been discovered near the Balearic Islands. The local marine rescue center, Palma de Mallorca’s Aquarium, promptly dispatched divers to the scene to save the unfortunate whale.
On May 20th, Spanish divers worked together to rescue a humpback whale trapped in a drifting net. (REUTERS / NGO Xaloc / Hector Gago)
After initial attempts to remove the net from a boat proved unsuccessful, divers from the Albatros and Skualo centers had to jump into the sea to use knives to cut the net in a risky 45-minute operation.
One of the divers, marine biologist Gigi Torras, told Reuters, “The rescue was incredible, unbelievable. Initially, the whale was a bit anxious, which is normal, but I think it felt that we were here to help it, so it relaxed. We started cutting the net from the whale’s mouth, and it actively twisted and turned, trying to swim away as soon as possible.”
Torras, 32, also mentioned that the whale stayed with the four divers for a while, gradually regaining strength before swimming away. She felt that the giant mammal “thanked them” in its body language before departing.
Drifting nets are dubbed “walls of death” because they unintentionally kill many marine creatures. This type of fishing gear has been banned by the United Nations for 30 years.”
