The story of whale rescuer Joe Howlett's death

After an unprecedentednumber of whale deaths this summer, CBC News is bringing you an in-depth look at the endangered North Atlantic right whale. This week, in a series called Deep Trouble,CBC explores the perils of trying to rescue entangled right whales.

Joe Howlett savoured the early morning light as the Shelagh left Shippagan harbour in northeastern New Brunswick at sunrise.

It was July 10, and Howlett and the rest of the Shelagh crew were racing to save North Atlantic right whale No. 4123.

It would be Howlett's final voyage.

The volunteer whale rescuer died that daytrying to save an endangered species the federal government is tasked with protecting.

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The details of Howlett's death untold until now took place in the middle of a deadly summer for a disappearing species.

By July 10, the corpses of seven North Atlantic right whales had already been found, apparent victims of ship collisions or entanglements in fishing gear.

As the death toll climbed,pressure mounted on the federal government to save thewhales from a man-made calamity before it was too late.

But members of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, co-founded byHowletton the tiny New Brunswick island in the Bay of Fundyin 2002, arethe only people with the permit and the will to rescue entangled right whales in the Maritimes.

For 15 years, the federal government has relied on volunteers in the Maritimes to rescue this endangered species, providinga few thousand dollars and lending them old boats.They've rescued dozens of whales.

Partway through the summer, Fisheries Minister DominicLeBlanc pledged to"take every possible measure" to protect the whales, which nownumber 500 at most.

But weeks later, still mourning one of their own, members of the Campobelloteam are calling for more help from the federal government.

"It makes me very angry that there has been this apparent lack of interest," said Jerry Conway, a retired employee of Fisheries and Oceans and an adviser to the whale rescue team.

One last rescue

Crew members ofthe 14-metreShelagh were on the water in early July to do research, but entangled whales kept changing their plans.

Just days earlier,Howlett, along with Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Centerfor Ocean Life, successfully freed a right whale with the help of a Fisheries and Oceans crew.

Elation quickly turned to frustration when news came on July 9 that yet another endangered whale was in trouble.

Hamilton, the only witness toHowlett's last rescue who is not a Fisheries and Oceansemployee, shared the details exclusively with CBC News.

Freeing No. 4123

Out in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Shelagh was about an hour awayfrom No. 4123, when Howlett and Hamilton switched over to a Fisheries and Oceansfast rescue craft.

As they raced toward the whale, Howlett was atthe bow,ready for action.

The captain noticed Howlett was getting a lot of spray, andhe asked Hamilton if Howlett might like to move back, so he could stay dry.

"I kind of knew the answer, but I poked my head out of the wheelhouse and said, 'Joe, do you want to come back?'" Hamilton said.

"He turns to me with this big smile on his face. No, he's in the elements and loving it."

After about an hour, the crew spotted No. 4123.

Hamilton designed the catalogue that keeps track of every North Atlantic right whale and knows each animal's story, from the identity of its birth mother to the distinctive calluses on its head.

After an assessment, the boat approached the animal slowly. On his first pass, Howlett was able to cut one line.

He turned around andgave the crew a big smile, Hamilton said.

"We're doing it!" Howlettsaid. "We're doing it!"

'That's when he got hit'

7 years ago

Duration 0:44

Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium, was on the fatal whale rescue on July 10 with Joe Howlett.The whale flicked its tail, getting the back of the boat wet.

The crew let the whale settle down a bit,before Howlett leaned over to cut another line on the whale's back. He wasusing a long spear-like handle with a knife on the end.

As Howlettgot the knife hooked under a line, the whale started todropunder the boat.

Then the captain of the boat saw Howlett flash a thumbs-up, according to Hamilton.

"I got it! I got it!" Howlett shouted.

In only 15 minutes and two masterful cuts, No. 4123 was free.

'Catastrophic' blow from whale's tail

As the whale propelled itself down into the sea,Howletthad to duck as the tail came up.

"All I saw was the dorsal side of the whale's tail flip into the bow of the boat as it was going down," Hamilton said.

'He was an extraordinary man doing extraordinary work'

7 years ago

Duration 1:14

Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium, was on the fatal whale rescue on July 10 with Joe Howlett.

The tail struck Howlettwith roughly atonne of force.

"It was catastrophic, so he probably didn't feel anything," Hamilton said.

Hamilton performed CPR for an hour and a half to try to revive his friend before the coast guard met them and took over.

But Howlett, 59,could not be revived.

Overhead, a plane was monitoring the whale, which thrashedand wriggled, shaking loose the lines Howlett had severed.

By the end of the day, the six-year-old male right whalewas free of fishing gear.

Howlettcould never bear to see an entangled whale, Hamilton said. Hewould be ecstatic to know the whale was still swimming.

"He was really happy at his very last moment. I take some comfort in that."

• Fisherman who died saving whale saw rescue as a duty

In the following days, news ofHowlett'sdeath was shared across the globe.

He was hailed as a hero.

Downloading responsibilities

Saving a whale's life producesa feeling of exhilaration like no other, said David Anthony, a fellow fisherman of Howlett'sand amember of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team.

"If you didn't get that strong high, or that strong feeling from it, I think that you would probably not do it at all," Anthony said.

The team loves that feeling, and its members never considered saying no to a rescue.

At the same time, they believe the federal government has downloaded responsibilities onto them.

Fisheries and Oceans sets the standards and rules for protecting endangered species, including the North Atlantic right whale, under its Species at Risk Act.

Fisheries and Oceans gave the Campobello team a permit to disentangle whales, under the condition that "all reasonable alternatives" had been considered and "the best solution has been adopted."

The federal government sets the rules of engagement, butdoesn't offer much financial support.

"I guess we've given them a free ride for a long time," said Moira Brown, a rescue team member and research scientist at the New England Aquarium.

The department disagrees, according to Adam Burns, the acting director general of fisheries resource management.

He cited the government's actions this summer closing a crab fisheryearly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and requiring ships to slow down and its funding of the Campobello rescue team as examples of thefocus on endangered whales.

"The government's commitment to whales is, to me, pretty clear," Burns said in an interview.

But members of theCampobelloteam said it'snot uncommon for them to leave paying work to help save a whale.

Aging vessels

The team travels on two boats on loan from Fisheries and Oceans. One is 34 years old, with seats held together by electrical tape, and the second is 19 years old.

When the engines failed, the team raised $40,000 to replace them. Anthony installed them in his free time.

"It seems like their responsibility probably should lie at least in giving us support to the fact that we need safe equipment to do the job," Anthony said.

The team also gets $9,500 a year in federal funding, most of it going to pay insurance on the two boats.

"We're doing their work, we have their boat, yet we have to pay the insurance on their boats," Conway said.

Burns wouldn't comment on why the Campobello team must pay insurance on theboats, saying the team has a negotiated contract based on "the services they provide."

He also wouldn't say whether the government might consider giving the team more funding.

"Obviously, there's an investigation ongoing with respect to the tragic death of Mr. Howlett. So we'll have to see."

Left in limbo

Weeks after Howlett's death, theteam's two rescue boats remain docked at Campobello's Head Harbour.

Transport Canada is investigating Howlett'sdeath but wouldn't provide any details.WorkSafeNBand the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are also investigating.

Even though they're the experts, members of the teamsaid they haven't been interviewed by investigators.

Nor have any investigators talked to Hamilton since the day ofHowlett's death.

The team must now ask the permission of Fisheries and Oceans before embarking on a whale rescue mission. Right whale rescues have beensuspended since Howlett's death.

Conway believes Howlettwould be angry to see therescue team locked in what its members call bureaucratic red tape.

"I feel that if he's looking down on us, he's going to be very concerned with the government agency that is doing this."

'It's cracked my heart open'

For Moira Brown, between losing her friend Howlett and the deaths of at least 14right whales, it's been the worst summer of herlife.

In her mind, the only way to save the population and honour Howlett's memory is to figure out why whales keep getting entangled. No one has found the answer yet.

To do that, Brownbelieves, the government must be more willing to ask fishermen for their ideas. She believes the team could help with that, if only they had the resources.

How an unprecedented number of deaths put the endangered North Atlantic right whale's future in peril

7 years ago

Duration 2:56

Here's how the species came to be in such deep trouble.

Hamilton, too, has struggled through a dark summer, dealing with Howlett's sacrifice and watching the decline of aspecies he loves.

"It's cracked my heart open," he said.

Like Brown, he believes the best way to honour Howlett would be to find a way to stop whales from getting entangled in the first place.

In a bittersweet moment 19days after his friend's death, Hamilton said, he was glad to seewhale No. 4123 swimming free in the Bay of Fundy.

"I would rather Joe were alive."