Dramatic footage shows a trapped whale splashing its way to freedom after a Norwegian coastguard crew cut the monster-sized mammal from its ropes. “Are you holding my legs?” says a crew member in Norwegian, as he leans carefully over the side of the KV Bison to cut ropes tangled around the huge whale’s tail and an orange buoy. The video was shot in the Barents Sea during a 10- to 15-minute rescue on Wednesday, a coast guard official told Reuters. It was posted on the Coast Guard’s Twitter account a day later. “We could see the whale was exhausted, it was completely still,” Lt. Raymond Isehaug told the news service Friday in a phone interview from the boat. “We approached it very slowly so as not to stress it … It was scared and acting aggressively.” Shocking footage shows a distressed whale approaching a Norwegian coast guard crew. Norwegian Coast Guard via Storyful The whale is seen splashing thunderously after members of the Norwegian Coast Guard cut the rope. The Norwegian Coast Guard via Storyful He briefly considered sending divers into the water to cut the rope under the temperamental whale, which appears to be a humpback – but decided against it due to its agitated state. Once released, the whale flips its tail and hits the surface of the water as it dives down before coming out for a final splash that causes the boat to rock, the video shows. With Post cables
