This is not a story of man vs wild, in fact this is a heartwarming, and a tad heartbreaking story of men jumping to the rescue of the wild. In Queensland, Australia’s Gold Coast, shark control nets are lined to keep the people bathing near the coast safe from surprise attacks. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, a humpback young whale got entangled in the net. The researchers speculate that the whale came near to the nets because this is the time of the year when they migrate to another part of the sea.
The marine rescuers, who spotted the whale, worked tirelessly on the first day, they reached out with blades tied at the end of a long pole to cut the net off the tail and body of the whale, which by then had embedded itself on the mammal’s skin. The whale let out agonising cries of pain while the rescue team took turns to dive in the water to save the mammal. However, after 10 hours, the rescuers had to pause the operation due to sundown. They left the whale in the sea and installed a tracking device on it to track it for further operation, the next day.
Next day, the rescuers again got back to work and somehow managed to cut the net. However, a part of the net still stuck to the whale’s tail when it was released in the ocean. The rescue team is still worried of the whale’s operation, after it has been severely injured by the cuts on its body. The video of the rescuers toiling for 2 days to untangle the whale to safety went massively viral on social media.
Conservationists, worried of the health of marine organisms, have long been complaining of the shark nets and the injuries caused by them to whales, who move around in their migration season. They have asked for the removal of the nets for further safety. Speaking to News.au, marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck said, “Scientists and experts employed by Queensland’s shark control program have told the minister the shark nets should be removed during whale migration season. Why isn’t the minister heeding the advice of his experts?”
6 whales have entangled themselves in the shark control nets in 2020 – they were later rescued and released in the sea, Reports Reuters.
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