Entangled young whale dragged buoys for hundreds of miles — then a ‘difficult’ rescue

A young humpback whale entangled in buoys and rope was recently rescued off the coast of Australia following a large-scale operation, video shows.

The juvenile creature was first seen offshore from Diamond Head, New South Wales, according to an Aug. 23 news release from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

It was seen again in Sydney Harbour, about 220 miles south of Diamond Head, triggering a multi-agency rescue operation on Aug. 22, officials said.

Onboard boats, a whale disentanglement team began by creating an exclusion zone of around 300 feet around the animal.

The team then attached large buoys to the entanglement — which was on the whale’s tail — to slow the animal, according to a video posted by ORCCA, a cetacean rescue non-profit, which helped coordinate the rescue.

The whale had been “making some erratic directional changes,” so the large buoys were “helpful for maintaining visual contact,” according to an ORRCA official in the video.

Armed with specialized equipment, including a tool akin to a grappling hook, the team got to work cutting the entangled lines and buoys.

A video posted by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service shows rescuers in a small boat approaching the large animal as it breached the harbor waters.

“It’s a very, very difficult task to try and disentangle a whale,” the ORRCA official said. “The crews on these vessels go through immense training and have to follow very tight procedures for the safety of not only the crew members but also for the safety of the whale.”

The animal was freed at about 11:15 a.m., officials said.

“The whale is now swimming freely and we have no concerns for its welfare,” officials said, adding that rescuers were left feeling “jubilant.”

They are “no doubt celebrating another successful operation with a hot shower.”

It was the latest whale rescue mission to take place off the coast of Australia this year.

In late June, a humpback whale “heavily” entangled in buoys and rope was freed about 190 miles south of Sydney, McClatchy News reported.

And in May, a humpback measuring up to 39 feet long was rescued from an entanglement near Perth during a multi-day operation, McClatchy News reported.

Entanglements in fishing gear are one of several threats facing the marine mammals. Vessel strikes and ocean noise also pose a danger, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Entangled young whale dragged buoys for hundreds of miles — then a ‘difficult’ rescue."