The case in summary: Fisherman Roar Sivertsen experienced that a humpback whale was caught in his net. Sivertsen tried to free the whale with the help of a long hook, but the whale slapped its spur and hit both the fisherman and the boat. In the end, Sivertsen had to cut the net. The Coast Guard was alerted and went out to look for the whale. The fisherman from Trøndelag owns the 12 meter long boat “Mehav”. It may go without saying, but: It is not a good idea to get a humpback whale in the net – as it can be 4-5 meters longer than the “small boat”. But when Roar Sivertsen was out hauling nets outside Bleik on Andøya on Monday morning – that’s exactly what happened. – At first I thought it was nice to see whales. It was lying completely still and breathing. But the more yarn he pulled in – the closer the giant came. – Hit both me and everything on board Sivertsen says that he took a few pictures of the whale which he sent on Snapchat to some friends before it came close to the boat. Naturally, there was no time for much photography when he realized that the whale was stuck in his net. – When it came alongside the boat, it got really busy, says the fisherman and continues: – I pulled slowly but surely into the net and finally we met each other. Of course. The whale slapped the boat and caused damage in several places. Photo: Roar Sivertsen Trønderen describes a few hectic minutes in which he tries to get the whale loose, among other things by using a long hook he had on board. – Suddenly it slammed into the track and broke my railing. There was a hell of a bang. – It hit both me and everything else on board. Roar Sivertsen on board the sharken Mehav. Just luck In all the chaos, the whale also hit the machine Sivertsen has to pull in the net. – Then it started to go in, and it probably got tight. It roared again and I just had to save myself. – It was a huge animal. The powers of the whale are well displayed on the equipment on board the boat. Photo: Roar Sivertsen Sivertsen emphasizes that news is lucky to actually be able to talk to him, or vice versa. – It was just luck that I wasn’t a meter further forward. Then it is not certain that we would have spoken now. – How would you describe meeting a whale? – Extremely. I had to go in to check how big they can get. They are normally 12–14 metres. I don’t know how big this one was, but it wasn’t a small vessel. Humpback whale Humpback whale is a baleen whale species in the fin whale family. The humpback whale can be 16–17 meters long and 30–40 tonnes heavy. The humpback whale can live up to 70 years, and becomes sexually mature between the ages of five and seven. Humpback whales were caught in Norwegian waters from 1881 to 1955, when the species was protected in the North Atlantic. Krill is the humpback whale’s most important prey, especially in spring and early summer. Further into the grazing season, it also eats a good deal of fish, especially capelin and herring, but probably also some mackerel and sandeel. Source: snl.no In the end the net had to be cut so that Sivertsen would not go down with the whale. – I think it broke free from the remains that were left. In addition, the Coast Guard was eventually notified – who went out on a mission with KV Bison to look for the whale. news has been in contact with the crew of KV Bison – who have seen nothing of the humpback whale.
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Dramatic encounter with humpback whale for fisherman Roar Sivertsen – news Nordland
