THE NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has just released some GoPro head cam footage of the recent whale disentanglement operation off Montague Island at Narooma.
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National Parks on July 8 mobilised a whale disentanglement team and freed an adult humpback whale off Montague Island Nature Reserve.
NPWS Area Manager Preston Cope at the time praised fishermen for reporting the entangled whale promptly.
“This humpback had fishing line, rope and two floats attached to its tail fluke. On our first disentanglement effort our pole snapped and our cutting knife also broke,” Mr Cope said.
“NPWS Rangers and Marine Park Rangers worked together to attach additional floats to the whale, both to help us track it and to slow the animal down.
“At 12.40pm today, after three further attempts to cut it free, the whale was successfully disentangled and was last seen swimming northward.
“Whale disentanglement operations are dangerous both for people and entangled marine animals and specialist NPWS crews are trained for these situations."
“Please always dispose of ropes and fishing equipment thoughtfully and report any distressed marine mammals to NPWS on 1300 361 967 or to ORCCA, the voluntary Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, on 9415 3333.”