Humpback whale freed of shark net in Hervey Bay

A humpback whale that travelled more than 100km entangled in a shark net with a calf in tow has finally been freed in Hervey Bay.

The humpback whale entangled in a sharknet. Photo: Contributed

A humpback whale with a calf in tow has been freed after becoming entangled in a shark net at Rainbow Beach.

The whale had travelled 100km to Hervey Bay wrapped in the net, where it was spotted by concerned whale watching crews and boaties.

About 8am on Thursday the whale was spotted again and the Department of Primary Industries was able to remove the ropes from the mother whale.

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers and a trained Marine Animal Response Team from the Sunshine Coast facilitated the release.

The mother and calf were now swimming freely.

It comes after the whale and its calf became entangled in a shark net and had to be freed at Noosa overnight.

On Wednesday, Andrea Cooper from Freedom Whale Watching said the whale and its calf had been spotted near Coongul Creek and was being watched by boaties to try to monitor its location.

Any possible rescue efforts were being hampered by a lack of equipment, Ms Cooper said, with hopes SeaWorld crews would attend on Thursday morning.

However, there were concerns the location of the whale may have changed by then.

Ms Cooper said it was a sad situation as the mother would be trying to feed its calf.

She said humpbacks did not feed during their migration, which meant the mother was living only off her blubber and the net would be causing extra strain.

A photo shared online showed the net wrapped around the humpback whale.

A statement on Wednesday said the Humane World for Animals Australia was responding to reports confirmed by the Department of Primary Industries that a mature humpback whale with calf was entangled in shark nets off Rainbow Beach, Queensland and had subsequently dragged a net about 100km north to Hervey Bay, the world’s first Whale Heritage Site.

“Hervey Bay is a sanctuary and recognised as a refuge for humpback whales during their annual migration, as the animals head south for cooler water and feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean during the austral summer,” the statement read.

Humane World for Animals Australia marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck said the event was a tragic reminder of the impact that Queensland’s shark nets have on whales.

“This is yet another reminder of the annual toll that shark nets take on these highly intelligent and social animals,” Mr Chlebeck said.

“The tragic irony of this gentle giant and with a calf is floundering as it’s entangled in a shark net in Hervey Bay – the world’s first Whale Heritage Site – is simply unacceptable.

“Even if the whale can be freed from this net, the trauma they will have suffered and energy expended in the struggle, will seriously jeopardise their ability to make the long migration back to their feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean.

“How can the Queensland Government continue to justify their year-round deployment of these lethal, outdated and ineffective shark nets to the state’s waters?”

Queensland’s shark control program currently consists of 27 culling nets on beaches in southeast Queensland, and 383 lethal drumlines in use on beaches from the New South Wales border north to Cairns.

Originally published as Humpback whale freed of shark net in Hervey Bay