Whale rescued from lobster pots in Ireland

A 25ft whale has had to be rescued after becoming entangled in lobster pots in Tramore Bay, Ireland.

The minke whale had the lobster pot rope snagged in its mouth and had been thrashing around in a bid to get free, reports the Irish Examiner.

According to the Press Association (PA), Tom O'Connell, crew member with the Tramore lifeboat, was alerted by local fishermen and steered the D-class inshore lifeboat while his colleague helm Dave O'Hanlon held a rope being pulled by the whale.

Mr O'Connell told PA: "It was like a couple of scenes from Jaws. All we were missing was someone on the back of the boat playing the cello."

The RNLI crew picked up some ropes being dragged by the whale and allowed it to pull them for about 400m out to sea as they tried to release the creature.

According to the independent.ie, a large fishing boat, the Sweet Waters, went alongside them and used a winch to secure the whale and attempt to free it.

The fishermen waited for the whale to come to the surface to breathe before cutting the rope by its mouth.

The mammal appeared to have dragged the ropes and pots about a mile out to sea, and was being weighed down into the water by them.

Once the rope was cut, the animal reportedly calmly swam off to sea.

Related articles

Beautiful video: Whale's amazing 'thank you' dance after being rescued from fishing nets

Sperm whale in Scottish harbour for nine days swims safely back to sea

%VIRTUAL-Gallery-172517%