The video portrays the poignant story of a vet and ocean advocate who discovers a deceased juvenile whale entangled in fishing gear while paddle boarding in Scotland. The initial discovery was shocking, contrasting with the serene morning she had. The experience evoked a mix of emotions, including devastation, anger, and a desire to drive change, as she realized the juvenile whale, part of an intelligent and socially active species, had succumbed to human activities.

Reflecting on the incident, the advocate shares her emotional journey from initial shock and hopelessness to gaining a more nuanced understanding. She emphasizes the importance of working collaboratively with fishermen to mitigate cetacean entanglements and appreciates the ongoing efforts by many in the field to prevent these tragedies. Her narrative stresses the need for action without casting blame, highlighting the efforts of Scottish creel fishermen in seeking solutions.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. juvenile [ˈdʒuːvəˌnaɪl] - (adjective) - Relating to young people or animals. - Synonyms: (youthful, adolescent, immature)

That puts it as a juvenile, probably a year or so, maybe just over a year old, I think.

2. entangled [ɪnˈtæŋɡəld] - (verb) - Caught or twisted in something. - Synonyms: (interwoven, trapped, intertwined)

And then I followed those ropes back to its tail, where I put a go-pro in the water and found that the tail stock was completely entangled with ropes.

3. adrenaline [əˈdrɛnəlɪn] - (noun) - A hormone produced in high stress or excitement, leading to increased circulation and quicker responses. - Synonyms: (epinephrine, excitement, thrill)

When we did come across it, it was almost this kind of adrenaline fueled reaction.

4. mitigate [ˈmɪtɪˌɡeɪt] - (verb) - Make less severe or serious. - Synonyms: (alleviate, reduce, lessen)

Learning about the hard work that's going on to help mitigate this, and the measures that are out there, which are being trialed to help stop cetacean entanglement in Scottish waters.

5. catalyst [ˈkætəlɪst] - (noun) - A person or thing that precipitates an event or change. - Synonyms: (impetus, stimulus, spark)

Personal experiences can be powerful catalysts for understanding and driving positive environmental actions.

6. cetacean [sɪˈteɪʃən] - (noun) - A marine mammal of the order Cetacea; includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. - Synonyms: (whale, dolphin, porpoise)

It's so unfair that a massive cetacean that belongs in our ocean cannot swim through our waters.

7. intangible [ɪnˈtændʒəbl] - (adjective) - Unable to be touched or grasped; abstract. - Synonyms: (impalpable, ethereal, nonphysical)

You hear about entanglement, but it's so intangible.

8. demonize [ˈdiːməˌnaɪz] - (verb) - Portray as wicked and threatening. - Synonyms: (vilify, malign, disparage)

It's really essential that we don't actually demonize a particular group of people, but work with them to help solve these issues.

9. advocate [ˈædvəˌkeɪt] - (noun) - A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. - Synonyms: (supporter, proponent, campaigner)

I'm an advocate for our ocean and for nature, and a filmmaker, and I'm an adventurer.

10. morbid [ˈmɔrbɪd] - (adjective) - Characterized by an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects. - Synonyms: (macabre, gruesome, ghoulish)

As a vet, that sounds really morbid, but I'm quite used to seeing a dead animal.

Harrowing Ocean Encounter with Baby Whale - Bad Natured - BBC Earth

That puts it as a juvenile, probably a year or so, maybe just over a year old, I think. And they actually use calf, I'm guessing so, you know, pretty much three times, I think. And then you newborn about four and a half meters. So that's. Yeah, that's a car from last year, I guess. Yeah. I'm Cal major. I'm a vet. I'm an advocate for our ocean and for nature, and a filmmaker, and I'm an adventurer.

So, 2021. I was stand up paddle boarding around the whole of Scotland, and I'd come around to the east coast. I woke up to beautiful weather. The water was really still and calm, which is amazing for starting up paddle boarding and paddling. From this incredible little tiny harbour, past amazing rock stacks, rock formations, incredible heritage places like Wallago steppes, past bird colonies, puffing colonies, guillemots. This is one of the most amazing puddles I have ever done. There are birds everywhere. It was a really, really special day on the water. It felt really peaceful and calm, and I felt like I was just surrounded, surrounded by amazing nature everywhere.

I couldn't have imagined the contrast between the morning to what I was about to find in the afternoon. So I saw something floating on the horizon. I couldn't really see what it was because it was about a mile away. So decided to paddle out to have a little look at it. As I got closer and closer to this big, floaty white thing, the water started getting really oily and there were flocks of fulmar all around it. The smell was horrendous. As I got closer, I realized that it was a dead whale. It took a moment to register what it was that we'd found. I was still convinced it was going to be a big block of plastic. That's what I'd have hoped we'd found. Not a dead whale.

When we did come across it, it was almost this kind of adrenaline fueled reaction of, okay, this is what we found. And so we went into this very kind of clinical mode of, we need to capture this, because this is really important. And at that point in time, I had to really suppress what I was feeling and just get everything we possibly could captured on cameras. We didn't immediately know why it had died. We could see that it had been dead for at least a few days. It was starting to decompose and it was really smelly.

And so I paddled quite close to it, which was quite distressing, and found ropes wrapped around its pectoral fins. And then I followed those ropes back to its tail, where I put a go pro in the water and found that the tail stock was completely entangled with ropes, and there was actually a rope leading down towards a seabed with lobster pots attached to it. This is really tragic to see. These are really rare animals in these waters. It's very, very highly likely that this whale has died as a result of entanglement in fishing gear. It's absolutely devastating.

It wasn't just the finding a dead body. I'm quite used to seeing dead animals. As a vet, that sounds really morbid, but I'm quite used to seeing a dead animal. It was more the implications, the fact that this was a juvenile whale, this was a potentially one year old humpback whale who had not only died, but potentially suffered quite significantly as a result of that entanglement. I didn't really have time to process any of this until I got back to land and I paddled back into land.

I'd been out on the water for something like 8 hours that day. I was quite exhausted and the adrenaline was just starting to crash from having found the whale. And James put the camera on me and said, you know, how are you feeling? And I literally had no words. I felt really devastated. But I also felt angry. I felt frustrated that this huge, important animal, this juvenile animal, had managed to succumb to human activity in that way, that it was just felt so wrong. And I felt so hopeless and helpless because what could I do about that humpback calf floating upside down?

The thing is, now what do I translate that to? What do I do? How do I. How do I make. Turn that into action? Oh, dear. My instant reaction was definitely one of despair and feeling like I really needed to do something about this because this was such an injustice. It's so unfair that a massive cetacean that belongs in our ocean cannot swim through our waters. I think one of the reasons I was most affected by this is that humpbacks, they live in family groups. The calves stay with their mothers until they're about a year old.

They have this close family bond, I think, as well with whales, we really relate to them. They're such intelligent creatures, and we're learning so much more all the time about their culture, about their family groups, about the way they communicate with each other. You look into the eye of a cetacean, of a whale or a dolphin, and you feel like you're looking into a creature that's very similar to you. The idea that a calf could have been lost amongst this group of humpbacks and the implications for them as well. And the impact that it might have had on them felt quite painful.

Over the next 18 months, between the incident happening and now, that kind of anger and frustration has definitely morphed and evolved, and I feel differently about it now. Having spoken to lots and lots of people who are working in this field and learning about the hard work that's going on to help mitigate this, and the measures that are out there, which are being trialed to help stop cetacean entanglement in scottish waters. It's also really important to remember that entanglement in fishing gear is never intentional. And actually, it can be quite distressing for fishers who find animals entangled in their gear.

So I think it's really essential that we don't actually demonize a particular group of people, but work with them to help solve these issues. And that is exactly what the creel fishermen in Scotland are trying to do, is trying to solve these issues. Looking back, it still affects me to this day, but I think it's changed from having been a really devastating thing to experience, to having had quite a positive impact on my understanding of entanglement. You hear about entanglement, but it's so intangible. It's such this kind of out there in the ocean issue. And then seeing it yourself, seeing this enormous animal having succumbed to entanglement, is very, very different. Seeing it actually for yourself.

So it's estimated that globally, 300,000 whales and dolphins every year are caught up in fishing gear. But we have no real idea of what the actual numbers are, because for every animal that we find caught up in fishing gear, there could be another one that's out to sea, lost out to sea, or that's sunk to the bottom of the sea. We need to keep working hard and to keep coming together and supporting those at the forefront of this work, so that we can find solutions as fast as possible.

Without hope, we have no reason to keep moving forward and to keep making positive change. But at the same time, the issues facing our seas are so enormous. And I found that quite difficult when telling this story, to make sure that it wasn't just a tale of hopelessness and of devastation, but that actually, we take note of the good stuff that's happening and the positive movements forward to help create safer oceans for cetaceans.

Ocean Conservation, Scotland, Humpback Whale, Philosophy, Science, Technology, Bbc Earth