Fisherman Jumps On Distressed Whale's Back To Save Its Life

November 4, 2018

Two commercial fisherman in Morro Bay, California, saved a humpback whale's life after noticing the majestic animal was in distress.

Nicholas Taron and Sam Synstelien were headed back to shore after a day of work when they noticed a humpback whale tangled in rope.

"[The whale] was just swimming in counter-clockwise circles," Taron told KNTV. "You could tell he was stressed and being held to the bottom."

They reported the distressed whale to the Coast Guard, who told them they wouldn't be able to respond for hours.

So Taron and Synstelien took matters into their own hands.

Synstelien mustered up the courage to jump onto the whale's back and cut the rope.

Taron caught the whole rescue on video and posted it on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

Saving Humanity. We followed this entangled humpback whale around for an hour. Cut an entangled buoy from her back but she was still caught. With no other options F/V Persistence getting the job done. #unreal #fvpersistence #jump #humpbackwhale

A post shared by F/V Persistence (@fv_persistence) on Sep 27, 2018 at 3:34pm PDT