Officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are investigating a report of an orca entangled in a fishing float and rope in the waters off Nanaimo.

The DFO received a report of a snared transient orca spotted from the Thetis Island-Chemainus ferry in Stuart Channel on Monday, and said a disentanglement crew was prepared to free the animal if they could track it down.

A photo posted to the Orca Network Facebook group appears to show the orca, believed to be T077A, with a buoyed rope around its fin.

DFO spokesman Paul Cotrell urged anyone who spots the whale to keep their distance and call the BC Marine Mammal Response Network at 1-800-465-4336.