A Whale of a Tale
This week, Mexican Navy divers faced a challenge not found in their basic training manuals: rescuing a 30-foot Humpback Whale caught in a fishing net.
The 30-ton mammal, which had been entangled in the net for several days according to cuts on her tail, was spotted struggling off of a Beach resort in Cabo, bringing Navy divers to the scene. A total of six divers -three members of the Navy and three citizen volunteers- worked tirelessly for 30 minutes to free the whale, during which one of the divers also was momentarily victim of the net's snare.
"[The whale] was stressed. She was throwing her tail about and was moving quite a lot. You could tell she was asking for help," said diver Marco Morales.
Despite the precarious situation, divers were able to stabilize the whale with ropes and several buoys, and soon after freed her completely. Even more amazing, the whole thing was captured on tape by a diver, which can be seen here.
With all of the pressure facing marine life, it was nice to have a happy ending to this whale of a tale.
