The crew of the Cortes ferry M/V Tachek reported sighting a humpback whale, POSSIBLY* entangled in an orange tarp, just outside Whaletown Bay at 1140, June 13, 2020.
MER – Marine Education & Research Society’s Jackie Hildering, who presented on humpback whales to the Cortes community last year, has contacted FOCI and requested that residents be notified of this POSSIBLE* whale entanglement.

For those of you on the water, this is an opportunity to learn these protocols:

1. Confirm the entanglement; the observed “orange tarp” could also have described a heavy fecal discharge of orange coloured krill; easily confused at sea at distance.

2. Report the entanglement with best location details possible to the DFO Incident Line at 1-800-465-4336. If you do not have cell service, use VHF Channel 16 (Coast Guard).

3. If at all possible, remain with the whale at a distance (minimum 100m) until trained help arrives or another boat takes over tracking, otherwise the chances of relocating the whale are greatly diminished.

4. Take whatever video/photos are possible to document the entanglement and to identify the whale as an individual but maintain a distance that doesn’t stress the whale (minimum 100 metres).

Further details available from MERS at: www.howtosaveawhale.org

Thank you for your attention to this…
POSSIBLE*** whale entanglement.