A baby whale has been caught in shark netting off the Sunshine Coast for the second time in three days as rescue teams struggled to release it.
The small humpback whale was first spotted in distress in the waters off Marcoola Beach, south of Coolum, on Friday morning.
A team from Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) was called in to manage the rescue operation, with a spokesperson for Sea World on the Gold Coast telling www.20304050.best that its teams are on standby to assist.
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Several other larger humpback whales surrounded the young whale as it struggled against the netting.
DPI said Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers, the Sunshine Coast shark contractor and a trained marine animal release team from the Sunshine Coast successfully released a juvenile whale entangled in a shark net.
Rescue teams could be seen using long hooked sticks attempting to cut the netting.
A spokesperson from the department said the entanglement was first reported just before 8am and the whale was successfully released about 10am.
“Our teams were alerted to this incident by reports to the Shark Control Program hotline, and we had crews on the scene very quickly. We thank everyone who contacted the hotline, enabling us to provide prompt assistance,” they said.
The department said the net is currently being replaced onsite.
“We remind the public that for their own safety, it is dangerous to approach or try to release whales trapped in nets”.
Only two days ago, a humpback whale and her calf became tangled in a shark net near Noosa Main Beach.
Crews worked through the night to free the trapped pair.
The mother and calf were reportedly freed from the shark net about 11:30pm on Wednesday.
Another mother and calf became entangled at Rainbow Beach earlier in the week, dragging nets more than 100km north to Hervey Bay.
Queensland and NSW are the only Australian states which use shark nets, however, in NSW they are removed over winter as humpback whales migrate to and from warmer waters between May and September.
Queensland beaches remain netted all year.
“It is estimated that more than 40,000 humpback whales migrate along the Queensland coastline each year and, on average, fewer than six become entangled in nets or drumlines,” (DPI) said.
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