75251

The Sea World Foundation rescue team has advised of the completion of a gruelling two-day rescue operation to save a humpback whale which was heavily entangled in thick rope and towing buoys off the coast of Northern NSW.

The entangled humpback whale was first sighted on 13th June off Burrewarra Point, near Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast with Sea World, NSW Parks and Wildlife and ORRCA (the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) awaiting further sightings to attempt the rescue operation.

With a sighting reported off Sandon Beach mid-morning on Thursday 20th June, the Sea World Foundation rescue team loaded up their rescue vessel and drove two-and-half hours to search for the whale off the coast at Yamba, where the whale was predicted to be based on swim speed calculations. With only an hour of daylight left on the water, the team began their search and found the entangled whale 5 miles east of Angourie, off the coast of Yamba. With limited light, the team deployed a satellite tag to allow them to track the whale allowing for the disentanglement efforts to continue the following day.

On Friday 21st June, the team headed back down to Evans Head, the location of the last satellite tag reading which was confirmed by a visual sighting from a member of the public, to commence the search and located the whale 2 nautixal miles off the coast of Evans Head. It was a challenging rescue operation spanning over three hours, but the team managed to remove all the rope and buoys from the whale before monitoring it post release as it continued on its northern migration with a companion animal. 

Advising that this was one of the more complicated rescue operations with the rope entangled tight around the whale and pinning its pectoral fins to its body and restricting its tail movements.

Related Articles

13th June 2024 - Sea World Foundation collaborates on whale rescue on NSW mid-north coast

23rd May 2024 - Sunshine Coast spotlights its whale watching offerings

17th May 2024 - Disentanglement team poised for humpback whale migration along NSW coast

1st February 2024 - Entangled dolphin rescued by Sea World Foundation at Tin Can Bay

18th January 2024 - Victoria’s wildlife rescue organisations receive funding boost

10th January 2024 - Sea World responds to media scrutiny over ride stoppages

30th November 2023 - Sea World Foundation to host fourth annual Ocean Clean Up

20th October 2023 - Urgent appeal launched by Sea World Foundation to save Sea Turtles

21st June 2023 - Upgraded popular whale-watching Crackneck Lookout reopens on NSW Central Coast

19th May 2023 - Sea World team conduct specialised training to prepare for whale strandings and entanglements

11th May 2023 - Whitsundays announced as a candidate for Whale Heritage Site status

25th March 2023 - Wildlife organisations collaborate to rescue and rehabilitate Green Turtle

19th February 2023 - Greenpeace highlights urgent action required to protect Australian whales

24th January 2023 - SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast releases four rescued and rehabilitated green sea turtles

3rd January 2023 - Sea World Chief Pilot among four killed in Gold Coast helicopter crash

2nd December 2022 - Opening of Leviathan wooden rollercoaster completes Sea World’s New Atlantis precinct

27th June 2022 - Specialist whale stranding training conducted by Sea World team

18th December 2021 - Protesters return to campaign against Sea World’s dolphins

30th October 2021 - Sea World marks 50th anniversary

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.