A young humpback whale is ‘swimming free’ in the ocean after a desperate rescue operation successfully freed the mammal after nearly 24 hours tangled in ropes in Sydney Harbour.
The difficult mission began Thursday and ended late Friday morning, when the distressed whale was freed from the ropes around its tail.
The humpback whale, estimated to be between 10 and 15 metres long, swam directly towards Sydney Heads and into the open ocean.
Ben Khan, area manager for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, said the mammal was “freely swimming and untangled” after whale release specialists managed to cut the ropes.
Marine experts were still monitoring it as it left the port, he told reporters.
Jessica Fox, from volunteer rescue group ORRCA, said it was common for whales to enter Sydney Harbour but it was very rare to see one entangled.
She told AAP it was not known how the whale became trapped, but it happened before it reached port.
The “wonderful” release came after buoys were used to help keep the animal relatively still while specialist staff worked to free it.
A young humpback whale was finally freed by whale release specialists after becoming entangled in ropes and buoys in Sydney Harbour on Thursday.
Rescue workers are seen trying to free the whale as it swam “erratically” in the harbour.
As the whale swam between Bradley’s Head and the Manly Headlands, wildlife officers used a long pole with special blades on the end to remove the ropes.
Members of the public first noticed the injured whale around 1 p.m. Thursday and reported it to the ORRCA hotline.
Mr Khan said the service’s whale disentanglement team began its operation in the afternoon but was defeated by dusk.
“It is clear that this is a very complicated operation. We are dealing with a very, very large living animal,” he explained.
Authorities praised commercial vessels operating in Sydney Harbour near the whale, saying they had respected exclusion zones that allowed rescuers to free the entangled whale.
Manly’s iconic ferries have been praised for respecting exclusion zones on Friday
Humpback whales sail north to warmer waters in June and July, then return south in September and November.
According to ORRCA, the peak time for humpback whales to pass through Sydney Harbour on their way south is late September.
Humpback whales are the main species sighted off the coast of New South Wales, and their numbers are increasing thanks to conservation efforts.
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