As the host marine ecosystem for the world’s largest population of humpback whales from April to October, it’s no real surprise that the Newfoundland and Labrador Whale Release and Strandings non-profit organization is kept busy.
This year has been no exception.
“It started early this year, the first of April from the southwest coast then continued on. Getting whales out of gear, whales that were towing gear. Herring gear, lobster gear, snow crab gear, everything,” said Wayne Ledwell, co-director of the Whale Release and Strandings group.
Ledwell said most of the whales they deal with are humpback that get caught in fishing gear, recalling one particularly difficult case in St. Georges Bay where a whale became entangled in crab gear.
“We had to use a winch and creeping grapple from a longliner which we have used a few times to get into the gear and lift it off if it’s too heavy,” he said.
“We had one this summer in a snow crab pot. You know the cone inside where they hang the bait boxes? We had one whale this year had that bait box right close to its jaw and we couldn’t get it out. It was caught through his mouth. He must have broke open the pot and somehow this bait box is on the side of its jaw,” recounted Ledwell.
“Sometimes we can’t do anything with them. They are pretty difficult animals to handle. It’s like trying to catch a rabbit in the woods with your bare hands,” said Ledwell. “Whales that we are the most successful with are the ones that are anchored, have enough gear on them. Sometimes we can get it off.”
Ledwell said the number of strandings and rescues this year in N.L. are pretty much in line with other years.
“It was interesting this year. We got a call from a Coast Guard helicopter pilot who was flying over Codroy Valley on the west coast and he saw large groups of sharks, 20 to 30 in a group swimming close to shore. That was unusual. They were mako sharks,” said Ledwell.
Over the years, Ledwell said fishing gear has been removed from whales in N.L. that originated from the Gaspe Peninsula to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
“When we work on the animal, we can’t always retrieve the gear, but we try to. A lot of times we don’t know whose gear it is, if there’s no balloons or buoys. Two years ago we took one out, a ballon that had a phone number from Yarmouth. We called him and told him. Most people don’t know what happened to their gear. They think someone went through it.”
Ledwell said they received one report of a North Atlantic right whale in July. “Nobody wants to see them because of this right whale stuff, closure of fisheries… We don’t get as many reports. Before people called. This right whale stuff has scared the life out of people. What it does in my opinion it has killed a lot of humpbacks because people are not going to call us.”
N.L. is also host to other whale species such as minke, orcas, fin and pilot whales as well as leatherback sea turtles.
“There’s been a lot of whales around the coast this year,” said Ledwell. “Here about two weeks ago you could go to any headland along the coast and see whales. It’s an amazing place for people to watch whales.”
By mid-August, the whales had started their migration back to the Caribbean and southern waters for the winter. “We will probably have a few more that are compromised,” said Ledwell. “When whales have gear on them, they act different than other whales, so it might circle back in again. When we have a whale with gear it sits there by itself. The other whales are off a ways.”
Ledwell said his group also deals with whale strandings. “We get a bunch of them. Dead whales. One was a pod of whales. We managed to get them off and back out again. Most of these whales that come ashore, single whales, when they come ashore, they come ashore to die. You can do what you like with them, push them out, but they’re just going to come in somewhere else. They come ashore for a reason. One time we would try and encourage people to push them out now we say just leave them alone. It’s what the animal wants. Poking and prodding it just torments the animal,” he said.
Then there are cases where whales are feeding close to a beach and the tide goes out, stranding them, which usually happens in the spring of the year. If you can get them back out, they’ll do fine,” said Ledwell.
He said one way to tell the difference between a healthy whale and one near the end of its life is if the body condition doesn’t look good.
Started in 1979, Newfoundland and Labrador Whale Release and Strandings is the oldest whale entanglement program in the world. “More animals been released here than all the others combined,” said Ledwell.
The program is funded through a contract with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
