Rescuers worked for hours on the weekend trying to free a whale entangled in rope in the area of Brigus South on the Southern Shore.

The efforts by the Whale Release and Strandings team and DFO paid off as the animal broke free and swam out to deeper water.

Wayne Ledwell, team leader of Whale and Strandings, says the whale was moving around quite a bit feeding on capelin. He says it took a lot of people from his group, fisheries and the community to free the mammal.

He says some residents including Mr. Gillis and his son and brother helped out. It was a difficult rescue because the whale was moving a half-kilometer one way, then a half-kilometer the other way. They removed about 200 feet of rope to allow the animal to swim out.