- The giant creature, named Ivy by locals, was stuck off Mount’s Bay in Cornwall
The dramatic moment a humpback was rescued off the coast of Cornwall has been caught on camera.
The giant creature, named Ivy by locals, got entangled in lobster pot lines off Mount’s Bay on Easter Sunday.
It was spotted by Marine Discovery Penzance, a wildlife-watching tour. Hannah Wilson, co-owner of the company said the creature was ‘Stuck fast, motionless, breathing only every three to four minutes, which isn’t too bad.
‘You know if they’re panting or breathing every minute that’s bad, but it’s breathing was fairly calm, but it was very stationary. So we don’t know how long it had been.’
She said her team felt ‘helpless’ as they were under strict instructions not to intervene because of the choppy conditions.
The humpback whale, named Ivy by locals, got entangled in lobster pot lines off Mount’s Bay in Cornwall
Yesterday evening the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were able to cut the whale free from the ropes
Ms Wilson said: ‘I think, well who knows what they’re thinking, but I think it may have had its struggle and was giving up.’
Yesterday evening the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were able to cut the whale free from the ropes.
Constance Morris from community interest group Grampus Campus, in words reported by ITV News, said: ‘Everyone came together for the greater good and was on standby waiting to hear what was to be done.
‘But this does highlight our wildlife’s plight, this was right on outdoor step, and we could have lost her. She swam away with cuts and a little bit weak.
‘But hopefully we won’t be seeing her wash up, becoming another entanglement statistic.
‘You can see the rope wrapped around her body in the photos.’
It was spotted by Marine Discovery Penzance, a wildlife-watching tour. Hannah Wilson, co-owner of the company said her team felt ‘helpless’ as they were under strict instructions not to intervene because of the choppy conditions
Constance Morris from community interest group Grampus Campus, in words reported by ITV News , said: ‘Everyone came together for the greater good and was on standby waiting to hear what was to be done’
Ms Wilson added: ‘It’s incredible what the guy at helm achieved because it was properly rough.’
‘By then there was steep short chop, poor visibility, the whale started moving by this point.
‘It was very impressive what he did. They cut the crucial rope, and the whale moved off, and that was that.’
In 2019, over the course of a few days, a humpback whale was spotted travelling back and forth in the River Thames near Dartford Bridge in Kent. Sadly, the aquatic mammal later died after reportedly starving to death.
While it was alive, rare sightings of the whale had delighted onlookers and whale watchers, who flocked to the banks of the Thames to catch a glimpse of the elusive animal.
