Sometimes, Best Way to Help Whale is to Leave It Alone

The best thing one can do to help this humpback return to its natural habitat is to leave it be, and let it make up its mind on its own. The whale is swimming freely, appears to be in fairly good physical condition and could at any time start moving downstream toward the Estuary or the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where humpbacks are usually found. No physical obstacle stands in its way.

In order to offer the animal the opportunity to resume its journey back to its fellow humpbacks, nautical patrols carried out by the SPVM and fishery officers are ensuring that boaters maintain a minimum distance of 100 metres. In addition to being compulsory, this distance ensures the safety of boaters. Pilots of commercial vessels are also being notified of the whale’s presence.

De plus, les différents essais dans des situations similaires ailleurs dans le monde pour déplacer une baleine contre son gré (autant par des émissions de sons, du nourrissage, des manipulations physiques) se sont souvent soldés par un échec (voir ci-dessous). Pour ces raisons, le RQUMM et ses partenaires privilégient de «laisser la nature suivre son cours» et de poursuivre une intervention de sensibilisation auprès des usagers du Saint-Laurent, à moins d’un changement à la situation.

A few noteworthy cases involving humpback whales can be taken as an example to understand the decisions currently being taken. For example, in May 2007, a mother-calf pair swam up the Sacramento River. Both whales showed injuries resulting from a collision with an engine propeller. To coax them back toward the ocean, teams tried various scare tactics, including alarm signals, playing killer whale sounds – a species that preys on humpbacks – the “oikami” technique developed by Japanese fishermen, which consists of hitting metal tubes, spraying the water surface near the whales with fire hoses, driving the whales away with boats, etc. None of these techniques had a significant effect. Due to their injuries, the two whales were administered a dose of antibiotic, which was unprecedented at the time. After 11 days, the two humpbacks left the freshwater area on their own to return to brackish water. Their skin conditions became less severe after just 24 hours. The mother-calf pair then took to the open sea, after a stay of around 20 days. The response team supervised by Frances Gulland therefore recommends that other response teams facing similar situations “ensure the animals’ protection by preventing disturbance by boats and reducing the risk of collision rather than trying to repel or move the animals.”