Whale Rescued

"In a recent issue The San Francisco Chronicle reported the predicament of a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps. She was weighed down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat and catch air at the water surface. A fisherman spotted her outside the Golden Gate Bridge and radioed for help. A rescue team determined that she was so badly off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. This was a dangerous maneuver. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. The divers worked for several hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers said she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them and pushed them gently around to thank them. They said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The diver who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same again."

- from Diane Morgan's Scoopified, Nr. 7 - Autumn 2007, "News You May Have Missed"