On the evening of 9 August 2024 British Divers Marine Life Rescue received a call reporting an entangled Minke whale approximately one mile from the shore at Whitby harbour. The whale had been seen entangled in approximately 40m of pot line, with footage obtained showing the animal in distress due to an entanglement around its tail.
Attempting to cut free a whale without planning can lead to the whale free-swimming still entangled in line and therefore BDMLR’s specialist rescue team for entangled whales (The Large Whale Disentanglement Team) was notified, with the team mobilising throughout the night. The team studied the footage, planning on how to approach and remove the lines and to ensure no line was caught round the head and mouth.
At first light on 10 August both the Summer Queen (local tour boat who offered their assistance as a support vessel) and the LWDT boat launched to search for the whale. The coordinates provided gave a good idea where the animal was last seen and the team searched the area for over two hours. However, using specialist equipment for whale locating, as well as 360 cameras, no entangled whale was found, though a Minke whale was seen swimming further out at sea. Without further evidence of a whale in the area it appears the Minke managed to free it’s self on a turning tide from the line and swam away.
Every mobilisation of our Large Whale Disentanglement Team is a large scale incident. Members of the team travelled from across the UK to attempt the rescue; Humber Coastguard alerted all ocean traffic to avoid the area as the whale was seen breaching and fighting the tide, which can become a hazard for boats approaching the harbour; local wildlife watching tour boat and crew Summer Queen offered their assistance late at night as a support vessel (enabling the team to carry necessary equipment out to sea with them) and Whitby Harbour Masters offered support through the evening, meeting with the team on arrival to assist getting the LWDT vehicles on site closest to the launch site.
Mobilising our team to every possible rescue alert costs us thousands of pounds every year. Please consider donating to our team here.
The Large Whale Disentanglement Team would like to thank Mike and Paul Hobson of Summer Queen, Paul and crew from Wet Wheels, Whitby Harbour Masters and Night Watchmen, Whitby Council, Humber Coastguard, and members of public who offered their support during the rescue.
The Large Whale Disentanglement Team will mobilise to anywhere in the UK, and abroad, to assist cetaceans in distress. The team famously travelled to Iceland in 2015 to assist ‘Nettie’ the entangled Humpback whale.
