British Columbia·NewAstroboy is known to be a Hawaiian humpback whale that migrates to B.C. waters, and it was freed after being spotted by a whale-watching boat.’Seeing it first hand was just very, very shocking to me,’ says naturalist working on whale-watching boat Alanna Kelly · CBC News · Posted: Oct 23, 2025 6:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesA humpback whale, known as Astroboy, was entangled with two lines running down the length of its body off Bowen Island on Oct. 22, 2025. It was freed near Nanaimo. (Stephen Feng/Prince of Whales)A humpback whale named Astroboy has been freed after being entangled in dozens of metres of fishing rope near Nanaimo, B.C. Melanie Warren was working as a naturalist on one of Wild Whales Vancouver’s whale-watching vessels on Oct. 22 when she spotted a whale in the distance. After the whale surfaced a few times, she immediately noticed it was in trouble. “Both myself and the captain, we could just see two lines draping along one side of the humpback whale’s body,” Warren said. They quickly called the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to report the entangled whale.WATCH | Humpback whale freed near Nanaimo:Rescuers free humpback whale entangled in 137 metres of steel rope near Nanaimo, B.C.In this video from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, a humpback whale is seen being freed from nearly 137 metres (450 feet) of fishing rope after a whale-watching boat found it in the Strait of Georgia.Warren said she was “just devastated” to see the entangled whale.”Obviously, working in the industry, we know that entanglement is an issue that these whales face — but seeing it first hand was just very, very shocking to me,” she told CBC News.This entangled humpback whale comes on the heels of a humpback whale calf being struck by a high-speed ferry, also in the Strait of Georgia, a few days earlier on Oct. 17.DFO fishery officers were taking part in marine mammal rescue training at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo when they were notified about the entanglement and headed to the area. A Prince of Whales whale-watching vessel stayed with the humpback until officers arrived and took photographs of the rope. The whale was located 12 nautical miles from Departure Bay in Nanaimo. A crew with Prince of Whales remained in the area until DFO was able to arrive and help the humpback whale. (Stephen Feng/Prince of Whales)”It was swimming pretty fast for humpback whale. Normally, when we’re out with them, they’re just a bit more of a slower-moving species,” Warren said. Fishery officers and the marine mammal rescue team were then able to attach a satellite tag to the submerged trailing gear. A spokesperson with DFO said it was a very difficult task to attach the tag.The drag from the satellite tag eventually managed to pulled off the entangled gear, which was approximately 137 metres (450 feet) of poly steel rope. The humpback whale has been identified as BCX2152 (Astroboy), a Hawaiian whale that migrates to B.C. waters. DFO says debris is a “real problem” for marine wildfire and that the public can help by cutting packing material, banding, rope, and other looped material before disposing of it, and not putting it in marine environments. ABOUT THE AUTHORAlanna Kelly is a CBC News journalist based in Squamish, B.C., covering the Sea-to-Sky region, including Whistler, Pemberton and the Sunshine Coast. You can email story ideas to alanna.kelly@cbc.ca.
Rescuers free humpback whale entangled in 137 metres of steel rope near Nanaimo, B.C.
