A young humpback whale has been freed after several hours spent tangled in rope off the NSW Central Coast.
Several rescue teams including a team from NSW Parks and Wildlife successfully freed the calf at Soldiers Beach near Norah Head about 12.30pm on Wednesday.
Conditions and the protective mother, who circled the calf throughout the day, made the rescue effort difficult, National Parks and Wildlife Services’s Lawrence Orel told AAP.
‘‘It was a great outcome for the whale and everyone involved today,’’ he said.
The Humane Society International has lashed the use of shark nets after the incident, which coincides with a Wyong Council shark summit discussing how to manage the predators along the region’s coast.
Humane Society International program officer Jessica Morris said nets were indiscriminate killers that caused casualties far beyond shark populations.
“The fact that we are seeing another endangered marine species trapped in shark meshing while Government officials discuss methods for reducing already very rare shark incidences, shows that we are waiting too long to remove harmful shark nets from NSW,” Ms Morris said.
‘‘Nets are indiscriminate killers, and every year they result in the deaths of a range of important marine species, including harmless grey nurse and hammerhead sharks, turtles, whales and dolphins.”
source:theherald.com.au
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