Sea World Foundation collaborates on whale rescue on NSW mid-north coast

The Sea World Foundation rescue team conducted a delicate operation yesterday to successfully disentangle two buoys and rope from a humpback whale off Fingal Heads.

The adult humpback whale was first sighted off the NSW mid-north coast by ORRCA with the trailing buoys and ropes, and Sea World Foundation and NSW Parks and Wildlife crews were on standby to attempt a rescue operation.

This was a major cross agency operation and the whale could not have been rescued without the help of ORRCA, NSW Parks & Wildlife, Sea World Helicopters, Volunteer Marine Rescue and members of the public.

With reports coming through yesterday morning of the whale off Hastings Point, the Sea World Foundation team travelled to Fingal Heads to launch the rescue vessels to commence the search. In conjunction with this, the Sea World Helicopters team were also deployed to do a search from the air, and they located the whale travelling north towards the Gold Coast five miles offshore.

The on-board team then carefully approached the whale and were able to secure a large float to the entanglement, with the friction of this added weight causing the rope and buoys to be removed from the whale. The team stayed with the whale to ensure it was fully disentangled, with the helicopter crews also observing no remaining entanglements.  

Whale rescue operations are extremely dangerous and should only be undertaken by trained professionals. Sea World Foundation encourage anyone who may come across a whale in distress to call their dedicated team who are on standby to assist any animal in need and can be contacted are on 07 5588 2222 (9am - 5pm) or 06 5588 2177 (after hours).

Images. Stills from video Credit: Sea World Foundation