UPDATE: Tangled whale at Double Island not rescued Gold Coast whale
THE whale found entangled in rope off Double Island Point is not the same whale freed from netting off the Gold Coast on the weekend, Fisheries Qld confirmed.
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THE whale found entangled in rope off Double Island Point earlier this week is not the same whale freed from netting off the Gold Coast on the weekend, Fisheries Queensland has confirmed.
Rainbow Beach tour guide Tyron van Santen's incredible encounter with a distressed juvenile humpback whale on Wednesday, 200m offshore, raised concerns the whale may have been the same one rescued by the department's Marine Animal Release Team and Seaworld rescuers on Saturday afternoon in Gold Coast waters.
The rescue teams were called out to free the large sea mammal, which had net stuck around its head all the way down to its tail.
On Wednesday, a similar-sized 8m-long whale, with rope wrapped around its dorsal fin and tangled inside its mouth, surprised a kayaking tour group when it surfaced amongst their tour group, seemingly asking for help.
He managed to untangle the creature's fin, but could not help it further when he realised the rope was in its mouth.
When footage was supplied to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, officials were able to analyse the rope and cuts to confirm the whale at Double Island Point was snagged with some sort of commercial fishing rope and was not the same whale who had been freed at the Gold Coast.
"It appears that this particular whale has been caught in commercial fishing apparatus. It's not known if the entanglement occurred in Queensland waters," a Fisheries Queensland spokeswoman said.
Mr van Santen said the whale that he came face to face with, was covered in scars and had small open wounds on its side as well.
Seaworld spokeswoman Marnie Horton told The Brisbane Times the whale at the Gold Coast was freed "after a small amount of cutting and it escaped with a few superficial nicks and scrapes around the base of it's tail."
Each year the number of whales moving through Queensland waters increases while the number of whale entanglements remains very low, Fisheries Queensland said.
"The Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol has highly-skilled Marine Animal Release Teams (MART) in place and ready to help more than 24,000 whales have a safe migration," the spokeswoman said.
"MART members are specially trained in marine animal release techniques and they use specialised devices designed to cut netting without harming the animal.
"On the weekend, two MART teams successfully worked with staff from Seaworld on the first whale disentanglement this year. Last year there was only one whale entanglement.
"If people see an entangled marine animal, it is important they report it immediately to the Sharkwatch Hotline on 1800 806 891."
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