A search is underway for a humpback whale entangled in fishing gear last seen off the east coast of Vancouver Island in the Campbell River area.

The whale was last seen off Sentry Shoal near Campbell River on June 28 entangled in a line that is difficult to see, according to a Facebook post by the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS).

The whale has been identified and is known as Vector and was still missing as of July 2. MERS is putting the word out to mariners hoping someone will locate the animal and has shared photos of it on its . 

Anyone who believes they have found Vector, should support their identification with photos showing the dorsal fin, which helps identify each animal. To report the sighting, contact the DFO Incident Reporting Line 1-800-465-4336 with specifics about location.

Spotters are asked to maintain a distance of at least 200 metres from the whale.

Finders are also asked to stay with the whale, if you can, until a member of the response network can come and keep track of the whale. The biggest challenge, as is evident by Vector not having been resighted yet, is to find the whales so that it can be disentangled by those with expertise and the necessary equipment. 

MERS and other members of the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration will be on standby to confirm the ID of the whale. Local tourism operators and Straightwatch have been alerted to the entangled whale in hopes of broadening the search.

DFO is actively searching for the whale as well with drones and boats. DFO has a protocol for rescuing entangled whales under its Marine Mammal Response Program.

DFO has 鈥淓xpert Entanglement Responders鈥� to provide advice on entanglement response to help assess and evaluate whale entanglement events.

More to come...