Not unlike a physician delivering human babies, Paul Cottrell gives life for a living B次元官网网址� with one major difference.
In his case, he helps to deliver some of the worldB次元官网网址檚 largest animals from human fishing nets and other entanglements.
As the pacific marine mammal co-ordinator for British Columbia in the federal department of fisheries and oceans, Paul Cottrell belongs to a small group of scientists around the world, who offer their expertise in whale disentanglement to the International Whaling Commission.
As Cottrell says, it is dangerous work for all concerned parties. B次元官网网址淚t involves small boat handling, ropes under high tension, sharp blades and panicked wild animals,B次元官网网址� the commission notes matter-of-factly on its website. Little more than a year ago, Joe Howlett, a volunteer whale rescuer, died in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while trying to rescue a whale from a Department of Fisheries and Oceans boat.
But it is also deeply rewarding work that prevents another creature from suffering a slow, agonizing death.
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B次元官网网址淭here is no feeling like making that last cut B次元官网网址� and seeing the animal breech,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 the best part of my job.B次元官网网址�
When Cottrell joined the department, he first worked with seals and sea lions. In 2009, he performed his first whale rescue, followed by 34 more B次元官网网址� humpbacks, greys and killer whales. No two have been the same, as each poses unique challenges, he said.
But if the circumstances differ, each rescued animal is another small piece in the larger effort to preserve animals once hunted to the brink of extinction, and now facing another host of human-made threats to their long-term survival.
They include climate change, shrinking food stocks thanks to over-fishing, the disturbing effects of ship sonars on internal navigation of cetaceans, fishing nets, and the mere physical presence of human vessels on the worldB次元官网网址檚 oceans.
B次元官网网址淓very animal is crucial to [cetacean] populations,B次元官网网址� he said. To this end, he is encouraging boaters to call 1-800-465-4336 if they spot whales in distress.
The waters surrounding Greater Victoria underscore this point. As of September 2018, the region is home to 74 southern resident killer whales, and recent developments suggest, the animals spread over three pods are not doing well.
Recent aerial images of one adult male B次元官网网址� K25 B次元官网网址� show him ailing based on his thinning body, according to the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
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This news comes after officials had declared J50 B次元官网网址� a four-year-old female orca B次元官网网址� presumed dead following failed efforts to treat her. Earlier, J35 lost a calf soon after its birth in late July. The grieving animal, however, carried her dead calf on her head for more than two weeks before letting it go.
But there is also good news. K-27 B次元官网网址� K-25B次元官网网址檚 sister B次元官网网址� is heavily pregnant, as is at least one whale in the other two pods, J and L.
In fact, the three pods recently came together to form a super-pod, a non-scientific term used to describe such a gathering.
Cottrell said heB次元官网网址檚 not sure why 40 of the 74 animals gathered in one spot. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 difficult to answer because itB次元官网网址檚 not predictive,B次元官网网址� he said.
At the risk of speculation, perhaps they were throwing a baby shower.
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