Sue Synstelien of San Pedro probably wasn’t altogether surprised when she saw the viral home video of her nephew’s heroic leap into the ocean to set free a humpback whale entangled in fishing line.
“There’s always a smile on his face, he’s just a happy, positive guy, very caring of people and animals,” she said.
The video, which aired on the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt on Nov. 1, quickly received thousands of shares, including many from his hometown friends.
After all, Sam Synstelien, 24, learned his way around boats growing up in San Pedro.
“When a whale needs saving leave it to a San Pedro Boy to get it done. Proud of you!” wrote Pirozzi, a family friend and Los Angeles Harbor commissioner.
Due to a prior exclusive contract agreement with another media outlet, Synstelien was not available for an interview early this week. But his aunt said the family is thrilled with what was a rather daring, and potentially dangerous, feat.
He was fishing for slime eel with his friend, Nick Taron, off the coast near Morro Bay on Sept. 27 when the two noticed a 40-foot humpback whale attached to a line and a buoy. It was clear that the animal was in distress. There are strict rules in place when dealing with wildlife.
From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website: “We do not support, condone, approve, or authorize activities that involve closely approaching, interacting, or attempting to interact with whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and sea turtles in the wild. This includes attempting to swim with, pet, touch, or elicit a reaction from the animals.”
The pair tried to find help.
“He knew the whale was hurt and in danger so they called the Coast Guard,” his aunt said.
They also called the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a local Marine Mammal center, but outside help wasn’t forthcoming.
“They saw the buoy attached to the whale that was thrashing in white water,” Sue Synstelien, a San Pedro dental hygienist, said in a phone interview Monday. “So Sam put his life vest on and took a knife and jumped over to try to cut the line off the whale.”
It took three attempts over the course of about three hours, she said, but the mission was finally a success.
“He said the water was freezing and the whale was slippery,” she said. “But he said he was 100 percent able to remove all the line.”
A 2011 San Pedro High School graduate, Synstelien earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo and is a deck officer with the Merchant Marines.
On the day of the whale rescue he was out on Taron’s appropriately-named fishing vessel, Persistence.
Taron managed to capture the last moments of the adventure while he manned the two-man boat.
“Get it! Before she dies!” he is heard calling out to Synstelien, who now lives in Desert Hot Springs. “Did you get it?”
“Yeah!” Synstelien shouts out, throwing his arms in the air.
That celebratory moment by the two fishermen, as noted in the NBC newscast, in this case, was “for the one that got away.”
