On January 28th and 29th, two unusual events coincided at the legendary divesite of Roca Partida in the Eastern Pacific. My group of Divers and Me were diving off the Solmar V Liveaboard and encountered an unusually friendly humpback whale Mother with her newborn who allowed us unparalleled close encounters and unlimited time with them underwater. The next day 2 Orcas showed up at the dive site and we witnessed natures most dramatic events. Watch the “Mystery of Life” and the Trip video report 01/25/2015
Daring rescue of whale off Farallones / Humpback nuzzled her saviors in thanks after they untangled her from crab lines, diver says
A humpback whale freed by divers from a tangle of crab trap lines near the Farallon Islands nudged its rescuers and flapped around in what marine experts said was a rare and remarkable encounter.
“It felt to me like it was thanking us, knowing that it was free and that we had helped it,” James Moskito, one of the rescue divers, said Tuesday. “It stopped about a foot away from me, pushed me around a little bit and had some funSunday’s daring rescue was the first successful attempt on the West Coast to free an entangled humpback, said Shelbi Stoudt, stranding manager for the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County.
The 45- to 50-foot female humpback, estimated to weigh 50 tons, was on the humpbacks’ usual migratory route between the Northern California coast and Baja California when it became entangled in the nylon ropes that link crab pots.
It was spotted by a crab fisherman at 8:30 a.m. Sunday in the open water east of the Farallones, about 18 miles off the coast of San Francisco.
Watch the video “Connection” , “NPR RadioLab Daring Rescue of whale off Farallons” and “The Eye of the Whale”