In 2005, just off the coast of San Francisco near the Farallon Islands, a fisherman spotted something heartbreaking—a massive humpback whale completely tangled in commercial fishing gear. She was caught in dozens of crab lines, her movement restricted, her body weighed down, her breathing labored.
He radioed for help.
Within hours, a rescue team from the Marine Mammal Center arrived. After assessing the situation, they made a brave decision: divers would enter the water and try to cut the whale free—knowing that even one slap of her tail could be deadly.
For hours, they worked in the cold water, carefully using curved knives to slice away ropes from her mouth, fins, and tail. The danger was very real—but so was their determination.
When the final line was cut, the whale didn’t immediately swim away.
Instead, she began to swim slow, graceful circles—almost like a dance. Then, one by one, she approached each diver, gently nudging them. The divers later said it felt like she was quietly and powerfully thanking them, without a single word.
One diver remembered her eye following his every move as he cut the rope from her mouth. “I’ll never forget that look,” he said. “It changed me.”
She swam free that day.
And maybe there’s something we can all carry from that moment:
To help one another when tangled.
To swim with gratitude.
And to never underestimate the deep connection between living beings.
Credit: Diem Jones
