Land & Sea: The Trouble with Whales

Spotting a humpback whale is considered a joyful event these days. Images of whales, icebergs and puffins have become symbols ofNewfoundland's natural beauty.

It's difficultto imagine a time when whales were despised. But in this two-part archival episode of Land & Sea from 1980, Herb Davis meets frustrated fishermen from St. Vincent's to Bay de Verde who were losing cod traps to the large mammals. Frustrated, the fishermenwould sometimes shoot the whalesin an effort to spare their traps.

A cod trap was a valuable and expensive piece of equipment. Traps were essentially large underwater corralsmade up of four net walls designed to capture the cod until they were scooped alive into a boat.

Losing a cod trap to a whale could spell disaster for a fisherman'slivelihood and was often fatal for the whale, as well.

Provincewide, fishermen were losing up to half a million dollars worth of gear every year, but their demands for government assistance with the issue werenot being met.

That's where the now legendary Jon Lien of Memorial University'sWhale Research Group came in.

Once a whale got caught, Jonand his team wereoften called upon to travel to remote coves and baystodisentanglewhales by hand. In Part 2, you can watch Lien's rescue of an agitated humpback using a small Zodiac in rough seas.

For more archival Land & Sea episodes check out our CBCNL YouTube playlist.