Whale calf reunited with mother after rescue from shark net off Australia, video shows

A rescue team freed an entangled humpback whale calf off the coast of Australia — reuniting it with its mother.

The young animal was spotted in distress near Bilinga Beach, about a 60-mile drive southeast of Brisbane, according to an Oct. 2 news release from the Sea World Foundation.

After being informed of the whale, a Sea World Foundation rescue team traveled via boat to the area and noticed it was stuck on a shark control net.

These nets, which are made of mesh and measure hundreds of feet long, are set up parallel to beaches to catch large sharks, according to the Australian government.

The calf’s mother was also seen nearby, a Sea World Foundation official said in a video accompanying the release.

The rescue team then began the “complex” process of freeing the calf, which measured about 20 feet long.

“The first thing we did was try to prevent any further entanglement,” a Sea World Foundation official said. “So what we did was a technique called snotting where, essentially, you’re gathering up the net with a bunch of zip ties to reduce the surface area.”

While completing this process, the young whale started to disentangle itself from the netting.

During this time, the calf’s mother “was being very patient, sitting out there letting us get in and get the job done,” a Sea World Foundation official said.

Finally, with the help of specialized cutting equipment, the calf was released from the netting. The entire process took less than an hour.

The young whale, which no longer appeared distressed, was last seen swimming away with its mother.

Humpback whales, which are found throughout all the world’s oceans, are regularly threatened by entanglements with fishing gear and other human-made devices, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Worldwide, an estimated 300,000 cetaceans — which include whales and dolphins — die annually as a result of entanglements, according to the Marine Mammal Center.

This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Whale calf reunited with mother after rescue from shark net off Australia, video shows."