Baby humpback whale has lucky escape from shark nets off Main Beach coast

A BABY Humpback whale has had a lucky escape from a shark net off Main Beach this afternoon.

Baby whale’s lucky escape

A BABY Humpback whale has had a lucky escape from a shark net off Main Beach this afternoon.

The juvenile whale became trapped in nets about 700m off the shore of Main Beach sometime after midday.

Sea World crews were called in to free the young whale about 1pm and had it freed by about 2.30pm.

The baby’s distressed mother never left her calf and once free the two swam away together.

Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long said a member of the public reported the calf and surf life savers confirmed it was caught in the net.

“It was a little calf, a newborn calf with its mother but it’s mother wasn’t caught in the net,” he said.

“It wasn’t that badly entrapped, it only had some lines on its head and it was trying to push through the net to get to its mother on the other side.”

Mr Long said the conditions were windy and choppy but the whale wasn’t very difficult to free.

“The little baby was distressed but it swam away well.”

“It’s quite common as newborn calves have a real problem with the shark nets.”

“Their mums bring them in close to the beach on their southern migration so they’re the major animals we deal with in the nets.”

He said the community didn’t have a good understanding of what shark nets were.

“Unfortunately most people think a shark net is a curtain that protects them, but it’s only a couple of metres long and they don’t go down to the bottom.”

“We’ve been through the debate but it’s the community that has to advise the government on what they want.”

The young whale is one of many to have become entangled in shark nets this season.

One whale was unable to be saved off the shore of Bilinga last month, sparking debate about whether the nets should be removed during the winter migration months.