Tag Archives: Marine Mammals

Saving Valentina: a Tribute to Jon Lien

Jon Lien, passed away in 2010 at 71 years old.  Between 1978 and 1990, he freed nearly 500 trapped whales.  He was a grand master for cetacean (marine mammal) research and conservation for the entire East Coast of Canada.  During times, when, as he said “near no one gave a damn about whales), he initiated single-handedly, a marine mammal saving program, with a small boat and a lot of courage to detangle mammals from fishing gear.  Eventually his volunteer crew grew, and as did his research on Marine Mammals at Memorial University of Newfoundland.  This site is a Memorial Site that was set up for friends of Jon Lien:

http://www.thanksjon.ca/

And this site is a video of a small group of boat travelers who came upon an entangled humpback.  Jon would have been happy to see average people display such care and courage for this majestic mammal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYPlcSD490