Urgent rescue mission underway to free a whale trapped in a shark net along the Gold Coast
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An urgent rescue mission is in underway to free a whale trapped in a shark net along the Gold Coast.
The whale is understood to have been trapped in a net off Greenmount Beach at Coolangatta in Queensland on Thursday morning.
It has since freed itself but remains tangled in the net.
Visuals published by Nine News depicted rescue crews attempting to free the whale as it continued its strained swim.
A Sea World Foundation dinghy followed closely behind, appearing to have attached two large rescue balloons to the whale to monitor its location.
A Sea World Foundation spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the rescue operation remained ongoing.
Queensland Department of Primary Industries, which maintains a hotline for reports of whales tangled in shark nets, said the risk is highest from May to September.
It estimated more than 40,000 humpback whales migrate along the Queensland coast each year and, on average, fewer than six become tangled in shark nets.
A rescue team is pictured beside the entangled whale
Efforts to free the trapped whale remain ongoing
Members of the public are prohibited from conducting whale rescue operations.
Last July, a group of paddle boarders risked fines up to $30,000 for attempting to free a humpback whale trapped in a net off the Sunshine Coast, ABC News reported.
More to come.
