A whale that was badly enmeshed in commercial fishing gear was freed off the coast of Evans Head earlier this month, following a major community rescue effort.
The large humpback, which was entangled in thick rope and towing buoys, was first spotted on June 13 off Burewarra Point south of Batemans Bay.
Over the following week whale watchers, and members of whale conservation group ORCA, kept the authorities informed about the mammal’s slow progress up the coast.
On June 21, a rescue team from the Sea World Foundation managed to find the whale near Yamba, about an hour before sunset and attach a satellite tracking device.
Satellite trackers
‘We were out off the coast of Yamba, and we were lucky enough to stumble across it,’ the rescue team’s skipper, Andy Mulville, said.
‘Our main objective was to get one of our satellite trackers on it so we could hopefully come out the next day and find it during daylight.’
The crew found the whale the next morning and attached a large inflatable buoy to slow it down and keep it close to the surface.
‘Our process was to start at the front of the animal and move back, so we slowly moved down, removing the first line,’ Mr Mulville said.
‘Then we got a second line that was going along underneath and that was the last bit of line that was connected to four floats that had been dragging the whole time.
‘Instantly, when we got that off the whole swim pattern of the animal changed and it took off at about four-to-six knots. It was so good to see that happen.
‘That was one for the memory banks for sure.’
Mr Mulville acknowledged that a key part of the rescue was the diligent monitoring of the whale’s progress by community members along the length of the NSW coast.
He said that the fishing gear attached to the whale bore the name of a commercial fishing vessel that had been reported to authorities.
NSW residents who find a whale, dolphin, seal or dugong in distress are encouraged to call ORCA Rescue and Research on 02 9415 3333.
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