Why not get in the water and cut the whale free?
Swimming after a whale entangled in fishing gear is impractical and dangerous. Like most wild animals, whales do not seem to enjoy being approached closely by people. When feeling threatened, their options include swimming away quickly, diving or even breaching for protection (when in the water near a whale even the most innocent twitch of its massive body could easily injure or kill a rescuer). Many large whales cruise at about 4-10 miles an hour. Our best Olympiad swimmers can sprint up to 5 mph for short periods. One of the most dangerous aspects of diving anywhere near an entangled whale is the gear itself. Line and net has an incredible propensity for entangling anything that touches it. Humans are not nearly as efficient at diving and swimming as whales. Becoming entangled in the fishing gear attached to a whale would be disastrous, especially if the whale chose to dive. Other practical problems include the water temperature and the water clarity of many of their favorite habitat
