Humpback whale entangled in fish trap in Sydney Harbour
By Riley Walter
A rescue operation to free a juvenile humpback whale entangled in a fish trap in Sydney Harbour will resume on Friday after the multi-agency effort had to be abandoned after dark.
A GPS tracker has been attached to the animal to help rescuers find it at first light.
A humpback whale is trapped in fishing nets in Sydney Harbour. Credit: Nine News
A whale watching cruise first spotted the trapped whale outside the Heads about 1.20pm and notified marine wildlife rescue organisation ORRCA.
The whale then swam into the harbour near Shark Island, off Point Piper.
Three NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service vessels had spent Thursday afternoon working to free the animal, with part of a 50-metre-long fish trap, made of rope and buoys, tangled around the distressed whale’s tail.
“It’s been a bit erratic in its behaviour,” ORRCA president Ashley Ryan said.
She said the whale was last seen swimming back into the harbour, after earlier returning to open water.
“Hopefully the conditions are favourable and the tracker works and the whale is freed nice and early in the morning,” Ryan said.
“Hopefully it doesn’t go too far.”
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