Alfonso Chavez, Lima Peru
June 2008
June 2008
On Friday June 20 an adult humpback whale was seen very close to the shore in the Punta Sal beach in the north of Peru, and it was obvious that the whale was heavily entangled with fishing net.
While local fisherman were getting ready to kill the whale and cut it for food, Alfonso Chavez, who is an experienced free diver, with the help of his boat captain Jorge, got close to the whale. Alfonso dove into the water and the whale was very calm while Alfonso started to cut the net with his knife. Alfonso was in the water working for about two hours, clearing the head and lateral fins.
He had almost finished cutting the last part of the net on the whale’s tail, when apparently it made a fast move with its tail and hit him on the back of his head. The blow to his head made him unconscious for an instant, but he managed to remove his weight belt and get to the surface. Here, he was rescued and taken to Lima by an ambulance airplane.
Alfonso was very lucky because he had only suffered damage to a couple of cervical discs. The poor whale could not recover, and the next day the whale was finally sacrificed by the local fisherman and cut into pieces.
For his efforts, Alfonso will receive a Save The Whales T-shirt.
While local fisherman were getting ready to kill the whale and cut it for food, Alfonso Chavez, who is an experienced free diver, with the help of his boat captain Jorge, got close to the whale. Alfonso dove into the water and the whale was very calm while Alfonso started to cut the net with his knife. Alfonso was in the water working for about two hours, clearing the head and lateral fins.
He had almost finished cutting the last part of the net on the whale’s tail, when apparently it made a fast move with its tail and hit him on the back of his head. The blow to his head made him unconscious for an instant, but he managed to remove his weight belt and get to the surface. Here, he was rescued and taken to Lima by an ambulance airplane.
Alfonso was very lucky because he had only suffered damage to a couple of cervical discs. The poor whale could not recover, and the next day the whale was finally sacrificed by the local fisherman and cut into pieces.
For his efforts, Alfonso will receive a Save The Whales T-shirt.
(this is a extract from savethewhales.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment