In Sydney Harbor, Australia, a young humpback whale was rescued from fishing tackle entangled around its tail after a nearly 24-hour operation. Vanessa Pirotta, a whale expert from Macquarie University, mentioned that the juvenile whale immediately swam towards the Sydney Heads and the open Pacific Ocean once the ropes were removed by government wildlife rescuers on Friday morning.

The distressed whale was initially spotted by a whale watching cruise ship operator in the harbor on Thursday afternoon. Following the report, a rescue mission involving boats, helicopters, and drones commenced Thursday afternoon and continued into the next day. Pirotta noted that the whale might have been entangled even before it was sighted on Thursday, as indicated by its fatigued breathing before the rescue operation.

Despite being unsure of the whale’s condition post-rescue, Pirotta expressed concerns about the ordeal the animal had gone through, being entangled in fishing gear in the busy Sydney Harbor. Jessica Fox from the Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia mentioned that buoys were attached to the tangled rope to slow down the whale, making it easier for the crew to eventually free the mammal.

The rescue team faced challenges as the whale had been moving erratically in circles within the harbor before its liberation. Pirotta highlighted the difficulty of disentangling a whale and expressed uncertainty about why the whale had not ventured into the open ocean despite the entanglement. However, the whale’s decision to stay in the harbor facilitated the rescue process.

Being a juvenile humpback whale, aged up to 4 years old, the gender of the rescued whale remains unknown. The successful rescue operation was a collaborative effort involving various entities working together to free the entangled whale and ensure its well-being.