Jon Lien, seen during a 2008 event, worked for many years with fishermen on freeing whales that had become trapped in gear. Jon Lien, seen during a 2008 event, worked for many years with fishermen on freeing whales that had become trapped in gear. (CBC)

Jon Lien, a St. John's scientist who earned international renown for his work with whales, has died.

Lien, who died Wednesday in St. John's, was 71. He had been ill for several years.

A professor at Memorial University, Lien spent years researching whales in the waters around Newfoundland and Labrador, and worked for decades with fishermen on freeing whales that had become trapped in gear.

Bill Montevecchi, a seabird researcher who was Lien's colleague and friend for more than three decades, said Lien had "a total commitment and passion and endearing love of nature and wildlife and animals and humanity.… It was infectious. Anyone who worked with him picked up on that."

Lien founded the Whale Research Group in 1978. A recipient of the Order of Canada, he also received the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador last year.

"He is at home behind a podium, in a fishing boat, in the belly of a whale or in a fisherman's kitchen," the citation for Lien's Order of Newfoundland and Labrador said. With his wife, Judy Lien, he also managed one of the first organic farms in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A service has not yet been arranged.