The Las Brisas charter boat was fishing a half day out of Flamingo last Saturday morning, Feb 6th, Just 200 meters south of the Catalina Islands, Humpback whales were sighted blowing their spray and as the boat approached in their direction, an adult Humpback over 40 ft long breached completely out of the water in front of the boat. An amazing sight to see so close.

After the water settled, a newborn baby was spotted dragging approx. 40 meters of gill net, line and floats wrapped around it’s head. Adult whale breaching normally means communication for distress….this was no exception. After that, Capt. Pat Franklin on the Las Brisas boat went into a rescue situation to get the baby freed up.

All the anglers on board were eager to assist even though their safety was going to be at risk. The baby was circled by the boat to get close enough to secure the ropes and net. The two adult whales also stood by circling close by, as they seemed to know an attempt to help their infant whale. Marine radio and cell phones from shore were used to summon help from nearby dive boats after trying to reel in the baby and nets to the boat, only causing crying from this baby whale. The rope and net were then released from the boat. Even then, the two parents still stood by vigilantly, confirming there was a rescue in progress for their young baby . Mother whales are extremely protective of their calves, and have been known to ram boats than even get between them and their young.

This day was certainly different. After an hour and fifteen minutes the Pacific Coast Dive boat arrived from Capt. Pat’s request for assistance. He had still managed to keep the baby close by keeping in front of the baby and circling around, along with the help of the parents. It was an amazing display of nature and higher animal instincts witnessed. The captain of Pacific Coast’s Golden Huntress, positioned his 54 ft. boat perfectly, allowing the two dive masters, Roy Mora Cordova, and Emelio Lopez Bustos, who, risking life and limb, immediately jumped off the bow of the dive boat into the waters in reach of the distressed baby whale. They had their dive knives prepared to cut free the ropes and netting entangled around it’s head. The first diver grabbed onto the back of the baby and fearlessly rode it as the whale ran, and then it submerged knocking the diver’s mask completely off rendering him out of commission.

The other diver caught the tail end of the net and climbed up along it while the whale was running scared. It was quite a site to witness this according to all the divers and anglers on the two boats. The diver was relentless, and caught up close to the baby’s head, and made his cuts on the line….success!! About 40 meters of rope and nets were freed from the baby. Cheers of joy were heard from both boats. A great deed was done by all. The three whales immediately headed out to sea at a fast pace.

Certainly thanks enough to see them unharmed. The baby whale would have certainly died caught in this gill net! The captain put the 27’ sport fishing boat closer to these whales than anyone would suggest was safe, and these divers took quite a risk of injury getting so close to these huge barnacle covered animals. It was an exhausting group rescue that took over two hours, but the divers and captain from the “Golden Huntress” get extra cudos. Thanks to Capt. Pat Franklin of Playa Potrero, and his Las Brisas anglers, Jesse Fox and Terry Wright from Alberta,Canada, along with Helen and Richard Fox of Whitehorse, Yukon, and all the fotos they managed to take to document this amazing half day fishing trip, no one will forget too soon.

Great job guys! The real sad news that comes from this story is how many sea creatures are caught in these death traps called gill nets. They are banned in many parts of the world, but still used extensively and illegally, causing useless killing and trashing the world’s sea life. If it swims, it will die in a gill net. Turtles, sharks, dolphins, whales, just to name a few. This story ended happily, but how many we cannot imagine do not. The gill net has to be banned within our waters, and this law enforced with massive fines and jail terms. Let’s hope just this one story can make a difference. Supporting the conservation efforts around the world is a good start.

Written by: Capt.Tom Haydu owner of Las Brisas Fishing Charters Feb. 14th. 2010