The story with a happy ending took place in the summer in the bay of Teriberki in the Barents Sea. The Red Book humpback whale got entangled in fishing nets, it was circling in the same place in the sea when it was first noticed by tourists, and then rescuers were already involved. According to the "Social Information Agency", the whale was named Stanislav, and this whale rescue operation was the first truly successful one in Russia.
As told by volunteers from the Friends of the Ocean group, who cut and removed the ill-fated nets, never before in Russia has it been possible to save a whale in such a situation.
"When they saw an entangled whale in Teriberka, they immediately called Vyacheslav Kozlov, the head of the Friends of the Ocean response group. Stanislav's whale had a special entanglement: the rope fit snugly to the body under the lateral fin and could eventually cut it off. Wounds on the skin also opened the way to infection, the prognosis for the future of the Red Book giant was unfavorable," said Valentina Mezentseva, head of the Boomerang club, which includes the volunteer group Friends of the Ocean.
According to her, many people were involved in the operation to save the whale – volunteers, local residents, business representatives, employees of environmental agencies, tour operators and marine biologists. Everyone had their own role. The practical part of the rescue was entrusted to the "Friends of the Ocean".
Two vessels went out to sea, one of them light maneuverable, in which there were two rescuers. The greatest danger is the tail fin of a giant, it is impossible to get in its way and approach the tail, it is necessary to move along the trajectory of the whale.
"When the rope has loose ends, then large inflatable buoys can be fixed around the whale. They allow you to slow down a whale, for which it is common to swim at a speed of 10-15 km/ h. Buoys like floats prevent him from diving. But this was not our case. Our whale didn't have a single piece of rope sticking out-there was nothing to hook the buoy on. It was necessary to approach the whale's head at a minimum distance of about 3 meters during its ascent in order to reach the rope with a rescue pole," continues Valentina Mezentseva.
But that's not all. When they tried to save Stanislav from certain death, the giant did not understand this. Besides, he was protected by another whale. He got between the rescuers and a confused friend, which complicated the situation.
"Attempts to untangle the whale did not stop, they worked even at night, fortunately they are now white on the Kola Peninsula," says Valentina, "the Sakhalin rescuers had to change their tickets and stay for a few more days. On the day of the rescue, they were at sea for 14 hours - walking next to the whale in the hope that there would be a moment when they could cut the net. And a miracle happened. The net was removed using a special knife mounted on a pole."
Stanislav was rescued for almost five days. And the volunteers of the Friends of the Ocean group played a special role here. In Russia, this organization has been professionally engaged in the rescue of marine creatures for many years. It all started with the usual Sakhalin tourist club "Boomerang". After the high-profile story of the rescued killer whales from ice captivity in 2016, a public volunteer group "Friends of the Ocean" appeared. It included enthusiasts who were engaged in education, whale research and tourism projects.
A little later, it became possible to organize training on Sakhalin with international specialists from the International Whaling Commission. Now in the arsenal of the "Friends of the Ocean" there is a whole set of various devices for saving whales, among them a large collection of knives from rounded to blunt and rotary. The group consists of specially trained people who are able to competently, and most importantly safely for humans and whales, approach the sea giants by boat, free them from nets. And of course, over the years, Friends of the Ocean have developed their own methods of untangling marine mammals from nets and other debris.
Photos from the personal archive of Valentina Mezentseva