Humpback badly entangled in fishing gear rescued
Sea World whale rescuers have freed their fourth whale in weeks after another humpback became badly entangled in commercial fishing gear.
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Sea World whale rescuers have freed their fourth whale in weeks after another humpback became badly entangled in commercial fishing gear.
The Sea World Foundation has revealed details of the latest daring rescue which took place off Burleigh Heads earlier this week.
A spokesman said the team was alerted by a local tour operator on Monday that the whale was entangled off Coolangatta.
The stricken humpback managed to make its way to Burleigh where rescuers found the 8m animal badly ensnared by rope and covered in lice and skin lesions.
“The disentanglement effort was difficult with the rope tightly entangled around the whale’s tail, however the team managed to successfully grapple to the rope and use the force of the boat to remove a large section of trailing rope,” said Sea World’s head of marine sciences, Wayne Phillips.
Mr Phillips said his team were unable to remove the tightest section of rope as it was deeply embedded in the whale’s skin.
He said it had been a busy start to the whale season, with Sea World already responding to reports of five whales in trouble since the annual migration began in June.
“This is the fourth whale rescue operation we have conducted this migration season due to commercial fishing equipment, so we encourage operators to manage their gear properly and report any missing equipment to the relevant authorities so we can be prepared to assist,” he said.
Sea World rescuers have also freed three trapped whales off the northern NSW coast and one off Hervey Bay.
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