SIX hours, three boats and 11 people are what it took to free a baby humpback whale tangled in rope off the Far South Coast on Tuesday.
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National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Marine Parks Authority staff freed the whale from 150 metres of 12mm commercial nylon rope, with two floats attached, using hook-knives attached to poles.
The whale was travelling with its mum when a helicopter crew spotted it off Depot Beach on Monday afternoon.
By Tuesday, the duo had traveled as far as Bermagui, where rescue crews began the dangerous task of freeing the calf.
Before rescuers were able to start cutting the rope free, they attached floats to slow the distressed calf down.
The calf was surprisingly strong and its mum was extremely loyal; it would not leave its side the whole time. It wasn't aggressive to us at all, it let us do our work.
- Rescuer Ian Kerr
NPWS Narooma area operations coordinator Ian Kerr said the mission was exhausting.
“It was very worthwhile to help out the entangled calf,” he said.
“We were on the water for about four or five hours.
“We started attaching the floats to the whale to slow it down at about 12pm and we finished at 5pm.”
Cutting the rope took two hours.
“We took small cuts at a time,” Mr Kerr said.
“Some times you can do the cutting quite quickly with just one cut, but in this case, the cutting was done over quite a long period.
“If you could imagine a bird nest of fishing line, that is what it looks like and you have to figure out which line is the best bit to cut strategically and at which point.
“It takes a little while to sort out and it takes a lot of going next to the animal.”
The whale was uninjured.
“The calf was surprisingly strong and its mum was extremely loyal; it would not leave its side the whole time. It wasn't aggressive to us at all, it let us do our work,” Mr Kerr said.
“It is a wild animal so we still do it very slowly and cautiously.
“It is more of the drag through the water that the whale is carrying and the stress on that.
“The floats and all the commercial line put a lot of stress on the animal.”
Mr Kerr was confident the crew had done “the very best they good” and hoped the whale could now free itself of the leftover rope.
If you could imagine a bird nest of fishing line, that is what it looks like and you have to figure out which line is the best bit to cut strategically and at which point.
- Rescuer Ian Kerr
“We got rid of 95 per cent of the line and floats,” he said.
“Usually, when most of it is free, it is able to dislodge itself with the different currents and movements.
“We are hopeful it will dislodge itself now.”
When the whale had been freed, the crew was “ecstatic”.
“It is what you join national parks and marine parks for; to assist wildlife is a great feeling,” Mr Kerr said.
“To help out one of our endangered species when it is stressed it is a good feeling.
“When the whale was released, it gave a flick of the tale and went out.”
Mr Kerr said the relationship between the mum and baby was wonderful to observe.
“It was quiet amazing to see that the mum would not leave its side the whole time. No matter how much stress and how much we slowed it down, the mum never left its side,” he said.
He said the crew was “extremely tired” after the successful mission.
“After that long on the water you get very fatigued,” Mr Kerr said.
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