Entangled humpback whale dramatically freed by lifeboat volunteers

A team of volunteers on lifeboats freed a humpback whale after it became entangled in fishing lines off the coast of Cornwall.

The distressed mammal was discovered encased in crab or lobster pots in Mount’s Bay, near Newlyn Harbor by wildlife boat company Marine Discovery Penzance on Sunday.

Several other boat trip operators quickly arrived in an attempt to help the whale, named ‘Ivy’, before the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) attended to free the whale from the ropes.

The dramatic rescue was captured by an amateur photographer who watches dolphins in her spare time.

The woman, a language teacher known on social media as the ‘Dolphin Lady’, traveled to Cornwall specifically to see Ivy after learning the whale had been spotted off the south coast.

“I still can’t believe what we witnessed,” she said of the rescue.

A man watching the rescue with The Dolphin Lady joked that the whale waved goodbye as it thrashed its tail as it swam away.

Andy Cowie, owner of the Atlantic Adventures boat tour company, was among the captains who went whale watching after seeing a post on social media.

Mr Cowie, who is also a member of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said The Independent how it had become tied up in the ropes used to tie crab and lobster boats to buoys.

“He had tried to free himself but he had become more wrapped up in the ropes,” Mr Cowie said.

“The whale also had a wound and was clearly quite distressed.”

He said the team of captains monitored the whale before the RNLI made the decision to release it.

The whale had been seen in recent weeks along the coast, said Mr Cowie, who believed its presence could be due to the impact of global warming.

According to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, there have been at least 30 recorded sightings of humpback whales in the area in 2023/24.

In February, hundreds of people headed to Falmouth after three were spotted off the coast. Last month there was another sighting near Porthleven.

Mr Cowie said: “Cocktails migrate further south at this time of year to breed and it is thought that due to global warming, their food source is reduced further north so they have not been able to build up their fat stores so you can travel further south – and so stop around our coastline to feed before moving south’.

Mr Cowie said dangers to whales in the region included fishing trawlers and lost nets.

He added: “Today has highlighted the dangers our marine life faces due to human activity.

“We hope and pray for Ivy to recover from this ordeal.”