Sea World team rescues humpback whale entangled in shark netting off Gold Coast

Sea World workers today raced to free a distressed migrating humpback whale entangled in shark netting off Kirra Beach, Gold Coast. Every year, migrating humpback whales face the hazard of 27 lethal shark nets off the SE Queensland coast. It is inevitable that some will get caught.

Sea World staff raced out to help, with teams using hooked sticks to detach the net. The exhausted whale was finally freed from the netting about 9.30am - but rescuers fear it is only the beginning of what will be an ongoing issue during this annual whale migration.

Sea World skipper Andy Mulville noted “the local whale watch season only started last week so it is very, very early and it’s already begun for us. We had another rescue off the coast last week, we are expecting a lot more of this.”

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. 

With Queensland beaches remaining netted all year, the Humane World for Animals has claimed the trauma this whale experienced is on the Queensland Government's head for ignoring scientific advice to remove shark nets for the winter.

Humane World for Animals Australia Marine Biologist, Lawrence Chlebeck shared "every single year we see the same predictable and avoidable story play out over and over again.

"For the whales, getting caught in a net is tremendously stressful. On their epic journey to and from Antarctica, they don't have any energy to spare. Even if freed alive, there's no guarantee they'll survive after the traumatic ordeal.

“It is a horrible irony that shark nets are meant for public safety. Yet we mostly hear about them when animals like whales and dolphins and turtles are caught in them. In any case there is no scientific credibility to the claim that shark nets help protect the public.

"It's wild that in the face of undeniable evidence of the nets' ineffectiveness for public safety, the Queensland Government is not only refusing to remove shark nets, but they've proposed adding more. It simply means more animals like whales will be entangled and die without any benefit to public safety.

"Successful trials of drones to keep an eye out for sharks and alert lifesavers to swimmers at risk of drowning at Southeast Queensland beaches, makes the continued use of a 61-year-old shark net strategy redundant."

Shark nets operating as part of Queensland's Shark Control Program were responsible for the entanglement of eight whales last season, and 34 in the last three years. In addition to migrating whales, the shark culling nets entrap and kill dolphins, turtles, sharks and rays.

Image. Credit: Sea World