Our Boats

The Making of a Whale Rescue Team - our boats

Approaching whales, especially those entangled in fishing gear, is dangerous and requires specialized skills and equipment. Only those licensed and permitted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to conduct whale disentanglement and release operations may get close to a whale. It's the law!

Driving a boat during a disentanglement attempt is much like dancing with a new partner, to music you've not heard before, on a moving dance floor. You have to be on your toes at all times, in tune with the moves of the whale and the state of the sea, to keep the team close to the whale but avoiding boat whale contact. The boats must be agile, swift and stable. We therefore chose our boats with great care and our boat drivers have decades of experience on the water.

Our primary rescue boat is a Roughwater 9.11 made by Rosborough Boats in Nova Scotia, utilizing Wing tubes.

Scamper, our primary Whale Rescue Boat is a Roughwater 9.11 made by Rosborough Boats in Nova Scotia , utilizing Wing tubes. Powered by twin Mercury 200 HP outboards.

Scratcher, our second Whale Rescue Boat is a Zodiac  Pro 850 with twin Honda 150 HP  engines. (Nick Hawkins photo)

Scamper and Scratcher on the water, tied up at the Welshpool wharf, on April 30, 2021. The first right whale of the season was sighted in Canadian waters earlier this week. Our boats, gear and crew are standing by, if the call comes in.

We can be as much as 50 miles offshore without support. So, our boats must be kept in peak condition at all times. If you would like to help keep our boats up to date, please consider donating to our Campobello Whale Rescue Team fund.