Rescue Mission: Saving Stanislav the Entangled Humpback Whale

Russian marine specialists are racing to save a humpback whale named Stanislav, who is entangled in a fishing net north of the Arctic circle. Tourists spotted the whale near the Kola Peninsula, prompting a search that covered over 120 km of coastline. Experts hope to free the whale by cutting the net.

Russian marine specialists are racing to save a humpback whale which has become entangled in a fishing net north of the Arctic circle. Video shot by a marine biologist shows the whale, who has been named Stanislav, with some sort of net and rope wrapped tightly around its body near the flippers.

After tourists on the Kola Peninsula, in Russia's far north, spotted the stricken mammal, biologists searched over 120 km (75 miles) of coastline before identifying it, according to Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia's natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor. "The whale entangled in the nets has been found alive," Radionova said on Telegram, adding that specialists would try to get close to it and cut off the net.