A huge humpback that was caught in shark nets on Australia's Gold Coast was freed last week after a dangerous rescue operation. After reports of a humpback caught in a net at Mermaid Beach came in on June 5, it sparked an urgent rescue operation to save the creature from harm.
A video of the rescue was posted on the official Facebook page of Sea World in Australia's Gold Coast.
''Head on board with the Sea World Foundation team as they joined the Queensland Fisheries MART agencies in a delicate rescue operation to successfully disentangle a 10-meter adult Humpback whale from the shark control program net at Mermaid Beach this morning. The whale was reported late on Monday afternoon, but with poor weather, sea, and light conditions, the rescue team embarked before first light this morning to commence the operation,'' Sea World wrote describing the incident.
Watch the video here:
Notably, the rescue teams worked collaboratively to successfully disentangle the whale from two vessels using specialised cutting equipment to remove all the netting from the whale's head and pectoral fins in around an hour.
They also explained that such rescue operations are extremely dangerous as the team deals with large animals weighing up to 30 tonnes, along with sea and weather conditions. ''So for the safety of rescue crews and the animal, must only be attempted by trained agencies,'' they concluded the post.
This is the first humpback to be spotted in the area this winter, marking the start of whale season., according to 9News.com.au.
