The mammal was floating limply on the surface of the Barents Sea with its tail caught in ropes when the coastguard vessel KV Bison approached it after being tipped off by a local ferry company. Lt. Raymond Isehaug said his team could tell the whale was exhausted as it was completely still. Isehaug said he sent a four-man crew in a light boat to help the animal he believed to be a blow whale. It took about 15 minutes for the team to untangle most of the ropes, which were tied to a buoy by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, Isehaug said. The whale then dived and turned its tail, splashing and spraying water before swimming away
