Rescuers untangle juvenile humpback whale trapped in netting in Sydney Harbour

Georgina Noack

The Nightly

3 Min Read

23 Aug 2024

Wildlife officers use a pole to disentangle the young humpback whale in Sydney Harbour on Friday. Credit: AAP

Rescuers have successfully freed a juvenile humpback whale tangled in netting in Sydney Harbour.

Crews resumed the delicate operation to untangle the young whale from what was understood to be a fishing trap on Friday morning after abandoning their hours-long mission due to failing light the prior evening.

National Parks and Wildlife Service said the team was able to free the whale at about 11.15am, crews monitored it to ensure it was swimming freely.

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NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Area Manager Ben Khan confirmed to reporters the whale had swam out of the headlines and “headed south, hopefully to where it was intended”.

“It’s a really positive outcome,” he said.

A Fantasea whale-watching cruise first spotted the whale outside the Sydney Harbour Heads at about 1.20pm on Thursday and alerted the marine wildlife rescue organisation, ORRCA.

The whale swam further into the harbour that afternoon, heading toward Shark Island, near Point Piper in the city’s eastern suburbs.

A juvenile humpback whale entangled in netting was first spotted at the Sydney Harbour Head on Thursday afternoon, before it swam into the harbour. It was eventually sighted on the north side of the harbour (blue) and rescued on Friday morning. — The juvenile whale was first spotted at the Sydney Harbour Head on Thursday afternoon before it swam into the harbour. On Friday morning it was seen on the north side of the harbour (blue) and freed. Credit: Google Maps

ORRCA president Ashley Ryan said on Thursday the rescue was a “big, dangerous job”, but wildlife rescue crews hoped to keep the whale in the harbour where they could “keep eyes on it”.

Efforts to locate the distressed animal on Friday morning caught a snag of their own when a GPS tracker attached to the whale by crews on Thursday evening fell off.

Mr Khan said the whale swam out to see on Friday night but returned to the harbour in the morning. It was seen swimming back and forth in the Manly area before it was located around 7.30am about 400m off Bradley Head in Mosman.

Using specialised equipment, including a grappling hook on a long hole, to hold the whale in place, rescuers cut the fishing tackle away from the mammal’s tail.

The rescue operation was led by National Parks and Wildlife officers, while NSW Maritime patrolled an exclusion zone near the whale.

ORRCA told 7News there were concerns the whale would tire itself out, they described its behaviour in the water as “quite aggressive” saying it was “thrashing around quite a lot”.

ORRCA vice president Jessica Fox told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday the whale was moving “quite erratically” making it a “really risky and dangerous situation” for rescuers. She said crews had to time their attempts to disentangle it when it was moving slower, between “bursts of energy”.

It could be seen on Thursday afternoon and on Friday breaching the water and spouting water from its blowhole as it attempted to detangle itself. Some witnesses reported hearing its distressed cries.

Experts said the calmer waters of the harbour may have helped it conserve some energy.

It is understood the whale’s tail was caught in the ropes and buoys of a 50-metre-long fish trap.

Mr Khan said there was “no concern” for the health of the whale, which appeared to be “swimming freely and disentangled” southbound once it left the harbour.

If you see a whale trapped or in distress call NSW National Parks service on 13000 PARKS (1300 072 757) or the ORRCA Rescue Hotline team on 02 9415 3333.