Race underway to rescue humpback whale entangled in nets in Sydney Harbour

A rescue operation is underway to free a juvenile humpback whale after it became entangled in a fishing net.

A whale watching cruise first spotted the animal snared in rope and three buoys in open water past The Heads, near Sydney Harbour, about 1.20pm on Thursday.

Wildlife rescue group OORCA were contacted to help the whale which swam into the harbour, near Shark Island.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services sent Large Whale Disentanglement Team had been dispatched to ‘find and inspect the whale’.

‘(The team) attached five floats to the whale in an attempt to slow it down to a pace where the rope could be safely removed,’ A NSW Parks spokesperson said.

Unfortunately, the infant whale was still moving too fast and the operation was suspended until Friday ‘due to falling light’.

‘Before suspending the operation, crew members removed the five floats, and were able to attach a satellite tracker to the rope,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The tracker will help monitor the whale’s position overnight and give the team the best chance of relocating the animal in the morning.

The rescue effort to untangle the whale from the 50-metres of rope (pictured) will recommence at first light on Friday 

OORCA’s president, Ashley Ryan, said the whale trapped in Sydney Harbour was ‘a bit erratic in its behaviour’.

Ms Ryan said it had returned to open water before last being seen swimming into the harbour. 

‘Hopefully the conditions are favourable and the tracker works and the whale is freed nice and early in the morning,’ she said, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

OORCA alerted the public on Wednesday to three seperate humpback whales entangled in nets travelling between Newcastle and Tweed Heads.

‘The behaviour of entangled whales can be unpredictable and they can change directions of travel,’ OORCA wrote on Facebook.

‘As such we are asking for anyone who can get out on headlands between Newcastle and Tweed Heads to please keep a lookout for these whales.’

One of those whale’s was seen towing five buoys south past Newcastle on Wednesday. 

The other two were spotted travelling north toward Byron Bay entangled in rope and buoys.

More to come.