Snopes confirms:

This time of year an email gets circulated about the 2005 rescue of a humpback whale tangled in the nylon ropes that link crab pots. It was off San Francisco.

Here’s one of the divers quoted, James Moskito:

… “When I was cutting the line going through the mouth, its eye was there winking at me, watching me,” Moskito said. “It was an epic moment of my life.”

… When the whale realized it was free, it began swimming around in circles, according to the rescuers. Moskito said it swam to each diver, nuzzled him and then swam to the next one.

“It seemed kind of affectionate, like a dog that’s happy to see you,” Moskito said. “I never felt threatened. It was an amazing, unbelievable experience.” …

“You hate to anthropomorphize too much, but the whale was doing little dives and the guys were rubbing shoulders with it,” Menigoz said. “I don’t know for sure what it was thinking, but it’s something that I will always remember. It was just too cool. …”

read the original article

This photo is of a humpback whale. But it was taken about 4yrs later in the South Pacific.

Thanks Dana.