Whale rescuers have battled tough conditions to save a humpback entangled off Queensland’s north coast in what proved to be their most challenging rescue of the migration season.
The stranded animal was spotted by a drone operator, who raised the alarm and then captured the incredible rescue as it unfolded.
SeaWorld rescuers left the Gold Coast expecting what they thought would be a simple task they’d done many times before — travelling 90 minutes south to Brunswick Heads to disentangle rope wrapped around the tail of a humpback whale.
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“We’ve just departed front, so we’re heading north of your way now,” rescuers said as they began their mission.
But as they got closer to the whale, the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse.
Buffeted by strong winds and big surf, attaching a float and even keeping track of the whale proved difficult for the rescue team.
“You’re so focused on the job at hand, it’s not until afterwards and you go, oh, jeez, there was a bit of weather going on for sure,” one rescuer said.
The drone operator who reported the incident aided the team during the rescue, guiding them in the right direction throughout the challenging conditions.
“The wind was so strong, I could not back up into the waves and try to stay off the back of the animal,” the operator said.
More than an hour into the operation, the whale was finally free.
The extent of the mammal’s injuries became evident once the rope was removed, revealing the whale had been trapped for some time.
“We knew this animal was already compromised. It had extensive sea lice over its back. It had lost a lot of weight. So it had been entangled for quite a while,” rescuers said.
It’s SeaWorld’s fifth whale rescue this migration season, with crews saying “it proved to be probably our hardest one this year”.
It’s probably not the last rescue needed, as humpback whales continue their journey to warmer waters during the annual migration season.
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