The three-year-old whale named Vector was last spotted on June 28, 2024.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and its partners are actively searching B.C.’s Salish Sea for an entangled humpback whale. The three-year-old whale named Vector was last spotted on June 28, 2024, near Sentry Shoal, Campbell River, B.C., with rope wrapped around his dorsal fin and body. Officials worry the entanglement could prove fatal if the rope is not removed.

In conversation with Global News, DFO marine mammal co-ordinator Paul Cottrell expressed concern over the entanglement. “It’s embedded in the dorsal side of the animal, which is really unfortunate and there’s not a lot of trailing gear. So this animal has maybe been entangled for a while because it’s not very visible.” he said.

Efforts to locate Vector have involved public appeals. Officials urge anyone who spot Vector—marked apart by his distinctive dorsal fin and the ropes around him—to maintain a distance of at least 200 metres and contact the DFO incident reporting line.

Once Vector is located, DFO plans to facilitate a safe rescue operation by deploying a drone to see the entanglement and using a working line to remove the rope.

According to CBC News, since 2019, Cottrell’s team has recorded an average of 15 to 30 annual entanglements along the B.C. coast, predominantly involving humpbacks.

“With the humpback population increasing in local waters, inshore waters, we’re seeing this rebound, which has been amazing,” Cottrell says. “But in association with that, because of the overlap with humans in these inshore waters and fishing gear, we are seeing that unfortunate overlap with increased vessel strike risk and also entanglements.”