Whales are one of the most majestic animals of the sea, which is why it’s so heartbreaking to see one in pain. That is what happened to a group of fishermen just off the coast of
Right away, the fishermen called the aquatic rescue team. Once they arrive, the rescue team attempted to track the whale by using a device called the GPS buoy. The way this device works is that they keep the whale in place by securing a buoy to the net, which will cause the whale to tire itself out so that the rescue team can take it back to a safer location and gently remove the tangled net without hurting the whale. A GPS system is secured onto the whale so that in case that it escapes, the team can find it within minutes.
Luckily for the rescue team, they didn’t forget to secure the GPS device, because the massive power of the humpback whale allowed it to escape into the sea, still tangled up and in pain from the rugged old fishing net wrapped around its head.
The aquatic rescue team sent out warnings to all sailors and fishermen near
Finally, the aquatic rescue team was able to track the humpback whale’s position, secure it, bring it back to a safer location, and removed the net without and damage done to the whale.
Without this GPS technology, it would have been near impossible to have tracked down that whale, and could have take weeks, or even months to find. With that net wrapped around its head, that whale would not have been able to see or eat anything, which means it would have been dead within a few days had the aquatic rescue team not found it. Thanks to GPS tracking technology, they team was able to find the whale in no more than a few hours.
Dozens of whales get could in abandoned fishing nets every year, and thanks to GPS technology, we can save as many of these majestic sea creatures as possible.
