Minke whale invades salmon cage

A minke whale has broken into a salmon cage in northern Norway, highlighting a possible new problem for the industry.

The incident happened at an Ellingsen facility in the north of the country.

The company said on Facebook that the incident was discovered early in the morning when staff noticed that the whale was in the middle of the cage.

It said: “A young whale had bored through the net and made a hole of about 70cm. Catching nets were in place at 08:00. The hole was provisionally sealed, before divers arrived at the facility at around 10:00 and had the damage repaired.”

Ellingsen added: “We have duly reported on possible escape, although we expect it to be very limited in the event as the hole was 18 metres deep and the smolt is high up in the cage.

“The whale was 4-5 metres long and settled in well. It calmly swam around with the smolt. As neither the whale nor the salmon were particularly stressed, it gave us time to plan how to get the whale free.”

The Ellingsen team took advice from various groups including the Directorate of Fisheries and finally managed to get the whale out without harming it , but it took the best part of a day. The company said its employees kept a cool head throughout and knew exactly what they should do.

Minke whales have been seen in increasing numbers around northern Norway and Iceland. In the North Atlantic, their diet typically includes finfish like cod and herring, as well as krill.

While it is one of the smaller whales, minke can grow to around 35 feet and more and weigh around 20,000 pounds, so they have a potential to cause a lot of damage to salmon cages.