PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — A false killer whale was rescued after becoming entangled in a nylon rope in the shallow waters off Barangay Sandoval, Taytay, Palawan.

The Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE) said community members spotted the entangled animal on 10 September in the protected waters of community seaweed farms.

Residents, together with the Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation, Bantay Dagat of the Shark Fin Bay Marine Protected Area Network, LAMAVE and the Philippine Coast Guard, successfully removed the rope, allowing the animal to swim toward deeper waters.

LAMAVE said more than two meters of nylon rope had become wrapped around the whale’s fluke and had cut into its skin, leaving a deep wound. The group said prolonged entanglement could have resulted in serious injury and potentially the loss of the animal’s tail.

Despite its name, the false killer whale is a member of the dolphin family. It is a highly social species that generally inhabits deep offshore waters and can travel long distances.

The species is named for the similarity between the shape of its skull and that of the killer whale. False killer whales can reach up to six meters in length.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the false killer whale as Near Threatened on its Red List of Threatened Species.

In the Philippines, the species is protected under regulations of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), which prohibit the catching, selling, purchasing, possessing, transporting and exporting of protected marine wildlife.

LAMAVE said Palawan is home to at least 20 marine mammal species, representing more than two-thirds of the marine mammal species recorded in the Philippines. Its waters provide important foraging and breeding grounds and migratory corridors.

The group said the rescue highlights the importance of community participation in marine wildlife protection, noting that seaweed farmers and other coastal resource users are often among the first to encounter distressed marine animals.

“The successful disentangling effort highlights the importance of community awareness and participation in managing and protecting local marine resources,” LAMAVE said.

It also emphasized the role of local communities in monitoring and protecting marine habitats within the Shark Fin Bay Marine Protected Area Network.