Humpback whale entangled in commercial fishing rope rescuedSource: Sea World Foundation
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NewsTranscript
00:00We got a call from Blue Safaris Charters about a whale that was in distress and that they
00:08found to have an entanglement just off the Koolangana Beach.
00:11So the team got ready, we sent the guys out, and a needle in a haystack, we were able to
00:17find a whale after about an hour and a half of searching.
00:20We were able to get a grapple and a large keg on that whale, but through the process
00:24of this entanglement, the rope did break and the whale did swim off with some rope extremely
00:31tightly wrapped around its tail fin.
00:33So it was great to have Dr. Clare on board today to inspect the animal, look at the condition
00:39of it.
00:40We did note that there was significant skin lesions as well as a bunch of sea lice across
00:45this individual, which all reflected a compromised animal.
00:49So there's a whole plethora of things that do occur secondarily to an entanglement.
00:55So this does include these parasites that we see, potentially other issues occur such
01:01as dehydration, poor nutrition.
01:05This unfortunately was evident with this individual.
01:08The animal is made at this far north, so that is a good sign, and let's just hope this individual
01:13can head back south and get some good nutrition.
01:16It's been a busy year.
01:17We've already had up to six animals that we've tried to help this season.
01:21It's very sad.
01:23Lots of whales passing by with commercial gear attached to them.
01:26So we just encourage all the commercial fishers out there to manage their gear properly and
01:31if they do lose anything, to notify the authorities so that we can keep an eye out for these animals
01:37and hopefully we can help them.