They had a whale of a time with this one.
A humpback whale entangled in 300 feet of fishing gear had to be rescued off the coast of Texada Island in western Canada, according to the BBC.
The mammal became intertwined in the ropes of a buoy being used for prawn harvesting in the waters there.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Marine Mammal Rescue team discovered the rope was inside the animal’s mouth, and were able to “methodically” cut it loose with the help of fishing vessels and captains.
The team had been trying to locate the whale for two days, and through the use of a satellite tag, were finally able to find it, along with three companion animals.
“We were like, ‘Wow, this is something we have never encountered,’” said Paul Cottrell of the rescue institution.
The painstaking rescue process, which took “four to five hours,” included a drone and making the right cuts on the line in order to not harm the creature.
Eventually, the whale stuck its head up and out of the water before doing a backflip, which loosened the gear and set it free.