'Amazing' team effort sees orca trapped in crayfish line for days finally freed
Friday, 27 December 2019
An injured orca tangled in a crayfish line has finally been freed after being tangled for days.
A DOC spokeswoman said the release of the orca had been an 'amazing team effort from all involved'.
Two DOC boats and one Orca Research Boat were on the scene with the orca from 10am on Friday, while Coastguard kept recreational boats at a safe distance.
A disentanglement team used specialist cutting tools, buoys and hooks to free the orca from the craypot and line, the spokeswoman said.
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Dr Ingrid Visser, founder of Orca Research Trust, had been working to free the whale since he was reported entangled on Northland's Tutukaka Coast on December 23.
A crayfish line had wound around the orca's right pectoral fin, which is like a human's shoulder, Visser explained.
The nylon line, called a pickup line, attaches the crayfish pot to a buoy and is as thick as an index finger.
On Thursday, Visser said the orca was likely to die from the injury, either from blood poisoning or blood loss, if it could not be freed.
At best, he might survive but lose his pectoral fin, she had said.
Hope was almost lost when rescue teams saw him at Peach Cove at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve, and he was unable to be located on December 25.
However, Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari spotted him on Boxing Day evening.
Rescue teams were on the water searching for him around Browns and Waiheke Island from 6am Friday morning and managed to capture the orca east of Waiheke, near Gannet Rock.
Cat Peters, DOC Senior Ranger Biodiversity said freeing the orca and watching him be able to swim away had been a 'fantastic result'.
'We watched the orca swim well and take several breaths after being freed. It remains in the area. It's tired from the ordeal and still needs space from the public so it can heal.
'The other orca were further away but he was calling, talking to them the whole time, and we're confident they could hear each other.'