Young humpback whale rescued from fishing tackle tangled around its tail

A young humpback whale was successfully liberated from fishing tackle that had ensnared its tail after an extensive near 24-hour rescue mission in Sydney Harbour.

After government wildlife rescuers removed the ropes late Friday morning, the juvenile whale promptly began making its way toward Sydney Heads and the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, according to whale expert Vanessa Pirotta from Macquarie University.

The whale’s entanglement was first reported by operators of a whale watching cruise ship around 1 p.m. on Thursday, which initiated a coordinated rescue effort. This involved boats, helicopters, and drones, beginning in the afternoon and continuing at daybreak on Friday.

Pirotta noted that the whale may have become entangled much earlier than the initial report suggested.

By listening to the whale’s breathing, she could tell it was quite fatigued before the successful removal of the ropes.

“Is the whale OK? I hope, I don’t really know. The reality is this animal has been through a huge ordeal,” Pirotta remarked during an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Before the rescue, she highlighted the challenging circumstances, stating, “Being entangled in fishing gear is an awful thing, but then having boats and drones in the busiest harbor on Earth, Sydney Harbour—it’s just incredible to see where this has just unfolded.”

Jessica Fox, a representative from the volunteer group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, explained that the rescue team had attached buoys to the tangled rope to help slow the whale down. This tactic allowed them to eventually stabilize the whale while they cut away the entangling ropes.

“The whale has been going in circles in Sydney Harbour, making some erratic directional changes,” Fox stated in a video shared on social media shortly before the animal was freed.

Fox further added, “As you can imagine, it’s a very, very difficult task to try and disentangle a whale.”

Pirotta also mentioned that it was unclear why the whale stayed in the harbor instead of swimming out to open sea with its tail still entangled. However, she noted that the whale’s presence in the harbor simplified the rescuers’ task.

In marine biology terms, a humpback whale is categorized as a juvenile up to the age of four years. The specific gender of this whale remains unknown.