On the first try! Petya, a whale listed in the Red List, was rescued in the Murmansk region.
A unique rescue operation was successfully completed in the Murmansk Region: specialists removed the deadly rope restraints from a humpback whale named Petya on the first attempt. The rescue took place in the extreme conditions of the Barents Sea, with strong winds, rain, and high waves. Experts estimate that the restraints were blocking the animal's pectoral fins, putting the whale on the brink of death, unable to swim or feed normally.
A unique rescue operation in the Barents Sea
Anastasia Kunitsa, a researcher at Murmansk Arctic University, reported that the shackles on the endangered humpback whale were removed on the first attempt, despite extremely adverse weather conditions—rain, wind, and strong waves.
"Guys! We did it! We untangled him! On the first try! Absolutely perfect!" Kunitsa wrote on her Telegram channel.
The entangled Petya (as the rescue team named him) was initially discovered with fresh wounds on Wednesday near the tourist village of Teriberka. The injured animal then migrated to the waters off Kildin Island, where the rescue team caught up with him.
Why Petya was in more danger than the whale Stanislav
Experts estimate that the fishing ropes entangled around the humpback whale's body posed a serious and immediate threat to its life. The situation proved far more dangerous than the high-profile incident involving Stanislav the whale two years ago in the same area.
A thick rope had completely blocked both of Peter's pectoral fins. This meant the endangered mammal could only stay afloat, surface to exhale, and feed by exerting force on his tail and body.
"Stanislav's pectoral fins remained free, allowing him to actively evade rescuers for several days," Anastasia Kunitsa explained the difference in the difficulty of the rescue operations. Thanks to the team's swift actions, Petya regained his mobility before he completely lost his strength.
SEO title (title tag): In the Murmansk region, the humpback whale Petya was rescued on the first attempt. Meta Description: Rescuers freed the endangered whale Petya from its ropes near Teriberka and Kildin Island. Why was the operation more dangerous than with the whale Stanislav?Slug: murmanskaya-oblast-spasli-gorbatogota-kita-petyu-teriberka Keywords: Petya the whale, a humpback whale, was rescued in Teriberka, Murmansk Oblast. Anastasia Kunitsa, Stanislav the whale, Kildin Island, Barents Sea. Region: Murmansk region
