Divers travel to save ensnared whale

Littlehampton Gazette: Divers travel to save ensnared whale

Expert divers have set off from East Sussex to the north of Scotland to help a humpback whale which has become entangled in rope.


Animal welfare charity the Scottish SPCA and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have launched a rescue operation near the bay of Orra Wick on the north east side of Shetland.

The mammal, weighing in at 30 tonnes, is entangled in a creel line - a rope attached to cages on the seabed used to catch lobsters and crabs.

Alan Knight, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which is based in Uckfield, East Sussex, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland: "About 2pm yesterday I was phoned by Scottish Natural Heritage to say could we come and assist with trying to get this rope off a humpback whale. So, we immediately jumped into our cars.

"We have driven overnight and we are now at the NorthLink ferry terminal in Aberdeen and we are hoping to convince NorthLink to donate us a space for our Land Rover and our equipment trailer.

"Then we are booked on to a flight which arrives in at sometime like 3pm this afternoon."

The expert divers have completed a training course at the Centre for Coastal Studies in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, helping to free grey whales caught up in creel lines.

Mr Knight said due to the size of the whale it was a "dangerous" job.

He said: "We don't enter the water if we can help it. We will look into the water using masks. We are hoping for good visibility. I am confident that we can release the animal safely."