#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. A humpback whale became entangled in a net in the Teriberka area. A Red Book listed marine mammal was found by tourists.
“The whale is alive, moving, but because of the net the animal cannot open its mouth wide”, said Svetlana Radionova, the Rosprirodnadzor federal environment monitoring organization’s head.
To save the animal, rescuers from Sahalin who deal with whales, as well as a specialist from Moscow, were called to the Murmansk region. Upon arrival, specialists immediately began freeing the animal.
The first report of the marine mammal came in early June from a ship captain who, together with tourists, discovered the whale. It was clear that the rope was wrapped around the front of the mammal’s body, and this could threaten its life.
“With the help of the Marine Mammal Council and activists from the Murmansk region, an unraveling operation was organized. Thanks to due attention to the problem, the team enlisted the Murmansk region governor’s support, which allowed them to begin processing permits as soon as possible, as well as obtain funding for the operation”, said marine mammal specialist, the Moscow State University’s Biology Faculty graduate student Anastasia Kunitsa.
Before the arrival of specialists, visual observation of the animal with a rope was carried out off the coast of the Kola peninsula. It is not yet known how long the whale can survive in this state, since it all depends on the degree of entanglement.
Specialists from the public organizations Marine Mammal Council and Ocean Friends are arriving to save the humpback whale. During the trip to sea, environmental activists will assess the condition of the whale caught in a net. Everything possible is done to help the animal. Local sailors are helping the rescuers – all this time they have been observing the whale’s location, sharing information about it.
“Special thanks to the Nornickel group of companies for their assistance in technical support and organizing logistics for experts”, Radionova noted in her Telegram channel.
The federal Rosprirodnadzor issued permission to disentangle the humpback whale and take a biopsy. The whale is alive and moving, the Murmansk news agency B-Port reports.
On June 11, after a meeting of the field headquarters, the active phase of the rescue operation to free the red-listed humpback whale began. The Ocean Friends’ rescue team, led by Anastasia Kunitsa, a member of the Marine Mammal Council, and the leaders of the operational headquarters for the rescue operation went on two boats to the Barents sea to free the whale, which has already been named Stanislav.
Unfortunately, the first attempt was unsuccessful due to thick fog, as well as the whale’s high maneuverability and agility. For four hours, rescuers tried to secure special equipment to free the whale, but all efforts were in vain.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: Olga Polyanskaya
