Rescuers are trying to free a humpback whale that has been swimming entangled in rope in Maritime waters for at least five days.
The humpback was first spotted by Capt. Roy Small of the whale-watching boat MV Island Link in the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia's Brier Island last Thursday.
They initially hoped to free the whale that day with the help of New Brunswick's Campobello Whale Rescue Team and a boat from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. But those rescue efforts were unsuccessful, and whale-watching boats have been on the lookout for the humpback.
The whale was spotted entangled yet again on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post from the Brier Island Lodge, which operates whale watching tours in the area.
The video, which was taken the first day that the whale was sighted, shows the humpback emerging from the water with rope caught near its dorsal fin.
The rope, which is believed to be a fishing line, is disturbing the whale's everyday habits, Brier Island Lodge staffer Amy Tudor told The Huffington Post Canada.
"It's stressing the whale, so they don't go on their normal patterns of behaviour, they don't feed as easily," she said.
(Photo by Jess Tudor)
Rescue authorities were notified about the whale's latest sighting, but Fisheries and Oceans Canada couldn't free it due to heavy fog and choppy waters, Tudor said.
Fisheries staff hope to go out again and tag the whale with a satellite tracker on Wednesday, as it has been elusive, she added.
Andrew Reid of the Marine Animal Response Society told Halifax's Chronicle Herald that it's crucial to free whales from rope as quickly as possible in order to reduce any harm to the animal.
This isn't the first time recently that Canadians have had to free a whale from its entanglements.
Late last month, a humpback whale was freed after being caught in rope for over 24 hours off B.C.'s northern Sunshine Coast.
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