Divers have rescued a minke whale snagged in nylon packaging at Gilsay in the Outer Hebrides, and a team of twenty rescuers, including divers, have successfully freed a sperm whale stranded in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.

The global role of divers in rescuing distressed marine life has been highlighted by two successful whale rescues.

On Friday 25 June, British Divers Marine Life Rescue volunteer Andrew Johnson was skippering a boat providing wildlife trips in the Sound of Harris when tourists spotted a 7.5 metre-long minke whale, caught by the head in nylon packaging. The party had stopped for coffee at Gilsay Island and at first thought the submerged whale was a dead seal. The mature whale appeared to be exhausted and was not moving.

Johnson managed to catch the nylon cord with a boat hook and cut the whale free. Two divers from the charter boat The Fearless entered the water and guided the motionless whale out to sea. Their first effort failed, but at the second attempt, the whale revived and swam vigorously out to sea.

At the opposite side of the globe, volunteer divers were working to free a 30 tonne, 14 metre-long sperm whale, which had become beached on a sand bar in Macquarie Harbour, on the west coast of Tasmania.

It was the second time in 4 days that the whale had become beached, during rough weather with 3-4 metre high waves.

Fortunately a change in wind direction assisted the divers who were able to push the whale off the sandbar and into deeper water. Boat crews from the Parks and Wildlife service were then able to guide the whale the 12km distance to the narrow harbour entrance, known as Hell's Gate.

Tasmania has the largest reported number of whale strandings; 62 sperm whales died after beaching on nearby Ocean Beach in 1998.


More links of interest
British Divers Marine Life Rescue


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