A young humpback whale entangled in commercial fishing gear has been dramatically freed.
The Sea World Foundation rescue team responded to a distress call on late Wednesday after ferry operators near North Stradbroke Island off Queensland’s coast spotted the 8-metre whale caught in ropes, lines and buoys.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Whale freed in daring rescue off QLD Coast
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Racing from the Gold Coast, the team made the two-hour boat trip to join Queensland National Parks & Wildlife rangers off Dunwich, in the southern part of Moreton Bay.
While whale disentanglements are a familiar task during the migration season, rescuers said this operation was anything but routine.
“Being in the bay is kind of unusual, which made it tricky to find the animal because we didn’t know where they normally hang out,” said Sea World Foundation Head of Marine Sciences, Wayne Phillips.
The whale was eventually found off Dunwich in the southern part of the bay, but strong winds and choppy conditions added to the challenge.
Crucially, the entanglement featured a long rope, which rescuers were able to grab to pull themselves close enough to assess the situation.
“There was quite a bit of trailing line, so we were able to get hold of that line and pull ourselves up onto the whale, and look at the disentanglement and then make a plan on how it was best to free the animal,” Phillips explained.
He described the whale as “very lethargic” at first, though otherwise in good condition.
“Once we located the whale in some pretty windy, choppy conditions, the disentanglement was quite simple.
“It was just around the tail fluke, which made our job a lot easier.
“We did start to see some sort of infiltration on the right-hand side of the tail fluke where that rope was hanging out.
“I think we got it just in time.
“Any longer, we could certainly start to see a bit more damage.”
Using specialised equipment, the experienced crew worked with precision to cut through the entanglement in open water.
The entire rescue took just 20 minutes.
“It was a real privilege to be out there today to help this young whale, it was a feeling of elation when we got the final cuts and watched the whale swim off without any gear on it,” Phillips said.
He praised the team for their calm execution under pressure and warned this may not be the last rescue of the season.
“This is our second mobile disentanglement of the migration season, and with more expected to be travelling up the coast with gear on them, our rescue team remains on standby to assist,” he said.
The annual humpback migration is now in full swing, with thousands of whales travelling north along Australia’s east coast.
Anyone who spots a marine animal in distress is urged to contact authorities immediately.
