A humpback whale entangled in green rope and five white buoys is being monitored by a satellite tracker after being spotted off the New South Wales coast. The whale, estimated at eight metres in length, was seen on Saturday afternoon about three kilometres off South Head, travelling south past Cronulla Beach.
Wildlife rescue teams, including volunteers from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (ORRCA) and a private whale-watching vessel, are tracking the animal. A specialist disentanglement team from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) attached a satellite tracker to the whale in the early evening.
An NPWS spokeswoman said if the tracker remains attached overnight, rescue efforts will resume on Sunday. The whale is one of eight currently entangled off the NSW coast, with tens of thousands of humpbacks migrating north along the coast annually.
ORRCA spokeswoman Pip Jacobs reported that another seven entangled whales are being tracked, possibly off the far north coast of NSW heading into south-east Queensland. She urged the public to report sightings to the ORRCA hotline and warned against untrained individuals approaching entangled whales, which can weigh up to 40 tonnes and exhibit stress responses.
Jacobs noted that two whales have been successfully disentangled in the past fortnight. She highlighted the dangers of marine debris, such as nets and ropes, which can cause starvation, injuries, or death if entanglement persists.
