50-foot whale got wedged under wharf. Then came ‘huge’ rescue operation, photos show

A young pygmy blue whale was recently rescued after it became wedged beneath a wharf along the coast of New Zealand.

The operation took place on Kawau Island — about 330 miles north of Wellington — on Sept. 15, according to a news release from the Department of Conservation.

The animal, which measured about 50 feet, had gotten itself trapped between the wooden pilings holding up the wharf. Photos and videos show it partially submerged in the shallow water.

In order to free the creature — which is a subspecies of blue whale — officials set about dismantling part of the wharf.

Video footage shows an excavator atop a barge pulling up a piling.

The whale “showed a little distress as the barge was brought in but soon returned to normal breathing patterns and stayed calm throughout the process,” according to the department.

The animal was eventually freed around 6 p.m. after multiple pilings had been removed.

Afterward, conservation officials boarded a vessel and helped guide the animal — which had some trouble navigating — toward the open ocean.

“The whale was last seen swimming into deeper water, and there have been no reports of sightings overnight,” according to the department.

The “huge” rescue effort was aided by the wharf owners, construction workers and local residents.

“We will be repairing the wharf,” officials said.

Pygmy blue whales are typically found north of Antarctica, including near Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This story was originally published September 24, 2024 at 1:55 PM with the headline "50-foot whale got wedged under wharf. Then came ‘huge’ rescue operation, photos show."