Right whale disentangled by Campobello team

The effort to save the endangered North Atlantic right whale, with a population believed to be fewer than 450, was bolstered this week by the work of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, which disentangled fishing gear from one of the whales, a 10-year-old male, off Grand Manan. The work was poignant for the team members, who last year lost one of their co-founders, Joe Howlett, when he was killed during a disentanglement in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Campobello group has a contract with the Canadian government to disentangle whales along the entire east coast of Canada, except Newfoundland, with currently the nearest other disentanglement teams being in Newfoundland and Cape Cod.
The whale had first been spotted 22 nautical miles east of Grand Manan on the morning of July 30 by representatives from the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station. The next day the Campobello Whale Rescue Team and vessels from the New England Aquarium and the Grand Manan station returned to search for the whale, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) conducted an overflight of the area, but it could not be spotted. Aerial surveillance and on‑the‑water searches continued on August 1.
The whale "was lost for a few days" because of heavy fog in the area, says Jerry Conway, a member of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team. Then the Grand Manan station's team located the whale again seven miles east of Great Duck Island late in the afternoon of Sunday, August 5. The Campobello team members responded aboard their five-metre inflatable and were accompanied by a DFO vessel from Campobello, as a security measure in case there were any problems. Having a second vessel accompany a disentanglement team is one of the requirements under new protocols set by DFO following Howlett's death. Conway notes that they also are now required to consult with other experts to see if they agree with the disentanglement methods being planned.
Mackie Greene, one of the co-founders of the Campobello team, says the disentanglement was "a hard one," since there was no visible rope, although the whale was towing an orange buoy. After grabbing the fishing gear and placing on it a control line with a large balloon to help track the whale, the team used a new piece of equipment, a cutting grapple, that is sunk down to cut the fishing line. He says it's "quite tricky" to get the timing right with the tides and the whale's movement. On the second attempt, the heavy line that the whale was towing was cut, which Greene says "made a big difference in the behavior of the whale  it bolted." Noting that there had been "a lot of heft" on the fishing line, Greene believes that there was a trap on the line that then was let go when the rope was cut. The team was able to retrieve a large poly ball and about 10 fathoms of line that was approximately 7/8 of an inch in diameter. Greene notes, "I've never seen gear like that here," and he believes there's a good chance it was snow crab fishery gear from the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
DFO recovered the gear and will try to determine where it came from. Conway notes that the whale had been seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence last month without being entangled in any gear. "It could have been picked up anywhere," he notes about the fishing gear. "Our philosophy is to save the whale. It's up to DFO to determine the type of gear and where it's from," says Conway. "It's fishermen helping fishermen and not attributing blame."
Conway notes that "the whale was able to swim virtually free," although it didn't raise its head, so rescuers "couldn't be certain it was 100% free, as there could still be lines in its mouth." Greene, though, believes the whale has a good chance to survive now and will be able to start feeding again.
The feeling of freeing a whale "is intense," says Greene. "There's nothing like it. You're trying to be safe, but it's adrenaline packed. It's a great feeling that you can help an animal out." He adds, "You feel like you're giving something back. You make your living out of the ocean, and we all have to do our part to keep it healthy."
The importance of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team's work is highlighted by just how endangered the 450 North Atlantic right whales are. Last year 18 deaths were recorded in Canadian and U.S. waters, with most of them in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and they were mainly caused by entanglements in fishing gear or collisions with ships.
Inherent dangers
Greene co-founded the Campobello Whale Rescue Team in 2002 with Joe Howlett. "We were both running whale-watch boats at the time" and were competing with each other, he remembers. "It was neat that we got together and started a team. It's turned into quite an organization" since its founding. Since that time the team has helped rescue about 35 whales, including some that were in weirs.
After Howlett's death freeing a whale last year, Greene says, "It was tough getting back into it." He says last summer he wouldn't have been able to disentangle any whales. "Joe was a dear friend. I wasn't mentally prepared," he says, noting that he was glad a moratorium was then placed on disentanglements by DFO. Of this latest disentanglement, Greene says, "I know it's what Joe would have wanted, and I know that he's smiling down on us."
The right whale disentanglement on August 5 is the second one that the team has done since Howlett's death. On July 14, the Campobello team disentangled a humpback whale calf that was with its mother off Brier Island, Nova Scotia.
During the moratorium on disentanglements, DFO and Transport Canada conducted an extensive review of its disentanglement protocols and also of the Campobello team's procedures, finding no problems with them, Conway says. The team's permit was reinstated last April.
"Joe's death is an indicator of the problems inherent in disentangling these whales," says Conway. Concerning the risks involved, he notes, "The danger is inherent, when you have a 70-tonne whale that's thrashing around and caught up in ropes. You have to understand its actions and why it's reacting in certain ways." He notes that DFO does not allow its fisheries officers to disentangle whales because of the danger. Instead, the efforts are left up to volunteer groups like the Campobello team, but disentanglements can only be done by a DFO-approved team.
Howlett was killed while he was working on his own aboard a DFO vessel with fisheries officers who did not have the training and experience to disentangle whales, Conway notes. Howlett had been asked to skipper a DFO vessel that was doing research on right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Conway points out that DFO was depending on his experience, since the fisheries officers were not trained to disentangle whales. However, Conway, who used to work for DFO, says that fisheries officers would like to train and participate in whale disentanglements.
At Howlett's funeral on Campobello, it was mentioned that the next DFO vessel should be named after Howlett, but no word has yet been heard about that suggestion.
Conway notes that the Campobello team members, while working together, "have never had a serious scratch" in freeing whales since the team was formed. Not only do the members rescue whales in the Bay of Fundy, but they also travel to help in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where there were a number of whale entanglements last year.
Another disentanglement team is starting up at Brier Island, Nova Scotia, and efforts to establish a disentanglement team in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are now under way. The Campobello team is awaiting DFO approval to conduct training courses for that team. Greene notes that if there were multiple whales entangled at the same time it would be hard for the Campobello team to respond to all of the incidents. In addition, the Campobello team held a training this past spring on the island and will hold another one this fall.
Greene notes that the team now has more support from the federal government, with planes and boats helping to locate the whales, and will be receiving federal funding this fall for a new 30-foot Zodiac that is worth about $300,000.

Working with fishermen
Four of the six active members of the Campobello team are commercial fishermen, and Conway points out, "This is commercial fishermen giving up whatever job at the time and trying to disentangle these whales. They're trying to give back to the ocean that they've been making their living out of."
Conway retired as a fisheries officer with DFO nine years ago and moved to Campobello to work with the whale rescue team. He observes that he has an affinity for whales, since he served on a submarine, which he refers to as "a steel whale," while in the Canadian Navy. "I shared the depths with them."
Conway does not agree with DFO's decision to close early a portion of the lobster fishery east of Grand Manan after a right whale was reported in the area, saying the decision was "a bit premature. It could have just been passing through" the area, he points out. "It was a quick decision based on minimal information. I don't think the fishery should have been shut down."
Greene agrees, noting that the team's motto is "fishermen helping fishermen." While the team has "a great relationship with the fishermen in the Bay of Fundy," he says that DFO's decision to close the lobster fishery early "really hurt things," with fishermen being upset. They realize, though, that the Campobello team was not responsible and that it was DFO's decision.
Anyone who sees a whale that's entangled can call the team's hotline, 1-866-567-6277. Both Greene and team member Moira Brown, who is a senior scientist at the Canadian Whale Institute, can also work in the U.S., as they are licensed there, too.