A young whale wanted near Rimouski

A young humpback whale entangled in a fishing cable is actively sought by the authorities. The calf was last seen Wednesday while swimming in the Rimouski area, near Bic National Park.

Eric-Pierre Champagne
The Press

The mammal, which would only be a few months old, was seen for the first time in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, off Les Escoumins, about forty kilometers from Tadoussac. He was swimming with his mother with a yellow rope passing over his back, below his pectoral fin. The rope enters its mouth on the left side, reports the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (RQUMM).

The mother was identified by the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM) as H729. The Mingan Islands research station confirmed Thursday that the young whale is indeed the calf of H729. Marine park officers tracked the two whales until 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, when they were near Rimouski. Three boats are looking for the calf.

If he is found, “an attempt to disentangle will be made”, can we read in an alert bulletin published by the RQUMM.

An operation which is not without risk, recalls the president and scientific director of the GREMM, Robert Michaud, in an interview with The Press. The researcher is referring to the death of a rescuer from the Campobello Whale Rescue Team in 2017, killed by a right whale that had just been disentangled from a rope in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

It is still necessary to find the calf to attempt an operation to remove the cable. In such a case, the rescuers try to fix a satellite buoy on the animal, in order to follow its movements since it is practically impossible to follow it continuously after having spotted it for the first time.

efforts in vain

Everything indicates that it was not possible to place a buoy on the calf on Wednesday while the search was actively continuing on Thursday to find the whale. A first Fisheries and Oceans Canada vessel left Forestville early Thursday heading for Bic National Park.

Two teams from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and a vessel from the Campobello Whale Rescue Team took part in the search.

These will continue on Friday and an aerial patrol will also be deployed to find the calf, which however seemed in good health on Wednesday. The research will take place both on the north bank and on the south bank of the river. Note that the mother has been observed several times in recent years in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the estuary.

The adult size humpback whale can measure from 13 to 17 meters and weigh from 30 to 40 tons. It can live up to 80 years. The species has not been considered threatened in Canada since the early 2000s.

It can be observed regularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the summer and a few individuals also venture into the estuary. A record number of humpback whales were seen in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park in 2021.

— With the collaboration of Simon Chabot