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Using a 30-foot pole with a curved knife (a “whale cutter”), rescuers from a Zodiac boat waited for the whale to surface for air. When the whale exhaled, the boat moved in.

The whale, estimated to be a 2-year-old male, was not the typical "Sounders" (the group of 12-15 gray whales that forget to migrate and stay in the region all summer). He was a transient migrant. But what caught the researchers’ eyes wasn't the whale's presence; it was the bright orange buoy trailing behind its tail. 2023-Patos-

The rope was wrapped three times around the whale’s peduncle (the muscular area just before the tail flukes). The orange buoy was bouncing behind the whale like a ball and chain. Worse, the line had sawed through the blubber and was cutting into the connective tissue. Using a 30-foot pole with a curved knife

The line went slack. The orange buoy floated free. He was a transient migrant

“You have three seconds to make the cut before the whale dives again,” said Captain Mike Reddington of the DFO. “If you miss, you might hook the knife into the whale’s flesh. If you panic, you cut the tail off.” On April 27, 2023, at approximately 2:15 PM PDT, in the calm waters just north of Sucia Island, the team succeeded. As the whale rolled to breathe, rescuer Katie Morgan leaned over the bow of the inflatable boat. With a single, decisive sawing motion, she cut the primary loop of rope.