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Va. fishermen free endangered whale

Posted at 2:25 PM, Jul 16, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-16 14:27:06-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WTVR) - Two Virginia Beach fishermen based out of Rudee Inlet managed to save a rare whale they found trapped over the weekend.

Captain Pat Foster and mate Adrian Colaprete, of the Wave Runner, were helping a team of scientists conduct research studies offshore when they made the discovery, according to a report on TheWildLyfe.com.

The pair found the northern right whale tangled in fishing line about 50 miles off the Virginia Beach coast on Sunday.

Armed with a knife, Colaprete dove into the water to cut the whale free.

"As soon as the whale caught up past me and I was parallel to its face and eye, it kind of stopped, which was a trip," Colaprete said. "He kind of gave me a little window to get down there."

Northern right whales are an endangered species with only 350 in existence.