Sea World Rescue team halts training exercise to save distressed whale off Gold Coast Seaway

A rescue team off the Gold Coast has been forced to halt a training exercise to launch a dramatic rescue of an injured whale. SEE THE VIDEO

A WHALE has been rescued off the Seaway this morning after the Sea World Rescue team were forced to divert a morning training exercise.

The team were first alerted about the whale, which had two buoys and ropes wrapped around its tail, when it was spotted along the NSW coast earlier this week.

They were in the middle of their annual disentangling training when they were notified of it and another adult whale four-nautical miles off the Seaway.

Sea World’s Assistant Manager Marine Sciences Marnie Horton said the “amazing” rescue was over pretty quickly.

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The team were in the middle of their training exercise. Photo: Sea World

“The animal was very, very tired, the rope around the tail had cut down at least two or three inches,” she said.

“So the animal was feeling pretty awful and it was moving pretty slow, so it was just hovering around the surface of the water which was really great for us.

“It gave us the opportunity to get in close and cut that rope off with just three cuts.”

The incident comes just a few weeks after another humpback was freed from shark nets off Broadbeach when it became entangled.

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Video shows the team working to free the whale from the tangled rope. Photo: Sea World

Ms Horton urged fishermen to be more careful with their equipment as more whales pass through the region.

“It’s really important for recreational fishermen to take all of their old fishing equipment home with them, fishing lines, old bits of rope, old bits of net,” she said.

“Take it all home and put it in the bin.”

The team followed the whale for about 20 minutes after the rope was removed. It suffered some deep soft tissue damage but is expected to have a “fighting chance” of survival.