06.29.09
Fin whale caught off Lanzarote
A fin whale which was found entangled in fishermans nets off the coast of Lanzarote has been freed by a team of divers from the Emerlan emergency consortium on the island.
The juvenile whale, weighing around twenty tons and measuring some ten metres long, was initially spotted by staff from SECAC Cetaceans Society. Vidal Martín, president of SECAC, stated that the whale was scarcely able to move and is believed to have been entangled, unable to eat, for a number of days. Closer inspection revealed the nets had become embedded in the whale’s flesh and were cutting through its tail fin.
It’s the second such incident off the Canary Islands in recent weeks. Another fin whale which had also become entangled in nets was recently found dead off of the coast of Gran Canaria.