Even though the gigantic whales can definitely be considered to be at the top of the naval food chain, a large part of the whale family is actually an endangered species.
In fact, according to World Wild Life, 6 out of the 13 great whale species are either vulnerable or endangered, mostly becomes of fisheries bycatch. It’s estimated that there are only around 400 North Atlantic whales left.
What most people don’t know is that whales are actually important in the fight against climate change.
Every great whale eliminates around 33 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), a massive amount. In other words, if there were more whales, the world would be a greener place.
Rescuers and volunteers try to protect whales at all costs, but this time, it was a normal family that saved the life of one of these giant and majestic animals.
Michael Fishbach is co-founder of The Great Whale Conservancy and decided to go on a boat trip with his team and his family.
The Fishbach family was looking forward to spending some time on the beautiful waters during a sunny day, hoping to catch a glimpse of some whales.
When they finally encountered a whale, they felt sad instead of happy. In fact, their hearts sank because this whale wasn’t doing well at all.
They spotted a giant humpback whale who managed to get stuck in a net that was left by local fishermen.
The poor animal was barely moving and had no idea what to do. In fact, the family was extremely saddened because they thought that the animal was already dead.
When they saw how the whale was rolling around very slightly, and finally let out a very large and visible breath via the blowhole, the team and the family were instantly relieved.
However, they knew that they needed to rescue the whale out of her predicament. While she was able to move slightly, she wasn’t out of the woods yet and was completely unable to swim away. Both her tail and his fins were heavily trapped.
The rescue could begin, even though they knew it would be quite a difficult and dangerous task.
As a rescuer, you never really know what to expect. After all, it’s a very real possibility that any trapped animal will perceive anyone who comes closer as a threat, even if they only want to help.
If you add the fact that this whale got trapped because of humans- this worry definitely becomes something you have to take into account.
It also became clear that time was of the essence- the whale was only around 15 feet below the water surface and wasn’t able to breathe sufficiently.
Everyone aboard wasn’t prepared for this impromptu rescue operation, and they only had a single, small knife to cut the animal loose with. While one of the family members started cutting through the net, the others tried to keep the whale calm to let this rescue go smoothly.
Cutting through the rope was fairly easy, but then the whale started to panic and dragged the entire team about half a mile away.
While the moment was definitely chaotic and stressful, the team was still able to cut the animal entirely loose and get rid of the net altogether. By the end of the whole operation, it’s as if this whale realized that these people were only there to help. Mission accomplished!
The rescuers named the great whale Valentina and were happy that this whale could finally swim around in the ocean again.
Before they parted ways, Valentina made sure to show her gratitude.
The great whale decided to do a number of cool maneuvers in the water, and she even stayed with the Fishbach family and the team for over an hour!
They definitely bonded together, even though they only spent an hour of time together. You can see the gratitude and appreciation in what can only be described as a heartwarming and touching moment. As for the performance, it was quite the spectacle to witness too!
Definitely make sure to watch the incredible encounter in the video below.
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