There’s nothing more captivating than witnessing a whale’s tail break through the ocean’s surface and stand tall in the distance. But for one group of fishermen sailing through Colombia’s Utría National Natural Park a few days ago, this moment stunned them not from its beauty, but in horror.

Their hearts sank as they watched a humpback whale thrash her tail uncomfortably, trying to break free from a heavy black net entangling it. Sadly, she couldn’t get out of the net on her own.

The fishermen immediately called CODECHOCÓ, one of the environmental authorities overseeing the Colombian Pacific, and alerted officials of the dire situation. A team of first responders acted quickly.

“As soon as the complaint was received, CODECHOCÓ, through the Pacific regional office, had a team of officials who, in the company of the Colombian Navy, the Mayor’s Office of Bahía Solano, Utría National Natrual Park, the Coast Guard and members of the community, began control and surveillance monitoring the area where the marine species had been last sighted,” CODECHOCÓ wrote on their website.

Everyone from local fishermen to the country’s armed forces rushed to the national park’s shore and searched for the whale for hours. When they finally located her in front of La Cuevita beach, they banded together to try to untangle the whale without hurting her.

“[A]bout 25 people in the area tried by different means to free the whale through established procedures to avoid harming her,” Colombia’s Pacific Naval Force wrote on X.

The group spent three hours encircling the whale, trying to help her with no such luck. Then, when they were just about to lose hope, a military personnel managed to grab hold of the net and pull it off the whale’s body.

They all breathed sighs of relief as the whale’s tail crashed into the water and she barreled freely into the sea.

While their rescue effort had been successful, the crew of rescuers wish the whole ordeal could’ve been avoided.

“It is very regrettable that the use of these fishing gears that are unfriendly to our natural resources is becoming the main threat to marine species such as the humpback whale, dolphins, turtles and whale sharks, species that play an important role in our ecosystems,” Arnold Alexander Rincón López, General Director of CODECHOCÓ, shared on the website.

You can see more footage of the rescue here:

The Colombian environmental authorities have since used the whale’s story to educate people about the dangers of nets in oceans. They recommend alerting coast guards and local authorities immediately in the event of finding an aquatic animal in distress and being mindful not to harm yourself or the animal when trying to help them.

And they urge fishermen to take care of their local wildlife by not using potentially harmful equipment.

“We will raise awareness in the community about the importance of responsible fishing to guarantee the well-being of animals,” Rincón López said.

Follow us to see more useful information, as well as to give us more motivation to update more useful information for you.
Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)