You’re whalecome! Humpback rescued
AN RNLI crew risk their lives to save another stricken sea-farer off Britain’s coast – a very grateful humpback whale.
The 60ft beast had become tangled in lobster pot lines and was thrashing around in vain, trying to free herself.
Four heroes from the Penlee inshore lifeboat crew responded to an SOS call and cut loose the whale – known as Ivy – in a dangerous half-hour operation off Mount’s Bay in West Cornwall.
Whale watcher Isabelle O’Shea, from Exeter, filmed the moment they released the struggling mammal, who is seen regularly off
Porthleven. She said: “Having driven to Cornwall for the weekend in the hope of seeing a humpback whale, I couldn’t have anticipated the drama that unfolded off Newlyn.
“In very rough conditions and in peril from the distressed whale, the lifeboat crew were able to free it from the ropes and stayed with it as it gathered itself before going on its way.
“Massive thanks and respect to the four crew members involved.”
Isabelle, who shares her photography on
Instagram and Facebook under the name The Dolphin Lady, admitted: “I cried when I took the video – the sea was so rough, I felt so scared for the crew on the boat because it’s so dangerous.
“I thought she was going to kill the crew to be honest – humpback whales are very powerful!
“It was really brave and was nice to watch in the end as it was like the whale was getting her breath back and eventually she just flapped her tail as if to say thanks and dived!
“I did want to see the whale but it was not quite what I had in mind!”