Sea World Foundation’s Post

🌊 Take to the seas and the skies with the #seaworldfoundation as they conduct their sixth whale rescue operation of the 2024 migration season to free an 8-metre humpback whale entangled in rope off North Stradbroke Island. 🚁 In a complex rescue operation, Sea World Helicopters provided vital aerial support to locate the whale and relay invaluable insight into the type of entanglement to prepare the rescue crew on the boat, following the initial reports from the member of public. 🐋 After following the coordinates supplied by the #seaworldhelicopters team, the crew on the boat located the whale 5 nautical miles off the coast off North Stradbroke Island and commenced the operation to remove the rope which was loosely entangled around the tail. The team connected their large buoys to the trailing rope with the friction of this extra weight managing to free the tail entanglement, however there was rope remaining in the whale’s mouth. 🌊 As the operation progressed further into the afternoon, the team reconnected another buoy with a satellite tracker which would allow them to continue the operation the following day should they lose light, however the extra weight of the buoy and tracker put the whale in a position which allowed the team to remove the remaining rope slowly and carefully from the whale’s mouth. 🐋 The team conducted a full assessment ensuring the whale had no further entanglement before leaving it to continue its northern migration.

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