Whale rescue crews say it has been one of their worst seasons on record for the gentle giants. More of them have been caught in shark and fishing nets along south-east Queensland and New South Wales coastlines. New technology is now being used to understand how to prevent whales from becoming trapped in the nets.
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00:00A humpback whale calf wrapped in fishing line off the Gold Coast last week.
00:07If they're not freed then they are either stuck in that line and in the rope for all
00:13their life, which could actually end after a few months because they're starving to death.
00:18This Kira resident has reported multiple sharknet entanglements this season.
00:24It's awful to witness.
00:26She wants to see sharknets removed from August to October when humpbacks travel up and down
00:32our coast.
00:33It's not just now the whale's life at risk, it's the rescuer's life at risk and that can
00:37all be avoided just by having these nets out.
00:40SeaWorld's rescue team has been flat out all migration season.
00:45This year's been unfortunately very, very busy and the majority of that has been fishing
00:50gear.
00:51So we've had rescues everywhere from up north of Caloundra, up that way, all the way down
00:56to the Victorian border.
00:57The trapped whales become highly distressed.
01:01All they want to do is get away from our boat.
01:03They usually show you with their body language but also vocalisations.
01:06You can hear them, it sounds like a screaming noise sometimes.
01:09After a successful rescue, the team attaches a tracking device.
01:14This whale tagging program is providing scientists with more information on how entanglements
01:20impact the species.
01:23We're looking at where are the hotspots, where are the most of the whales getting entangled
01:27and what type of gear is impacting these whales.
01:30It's not all bad news.
01:32The trackers have uncovered some quirky behaviour only seen on the Gold Coast.
01:38Sand rolling, so whales, humpback whales are rolling in sand as a new behaviour.
01:43But we're also discovering more and more newborn calves, so we do see a lot of the younger
01:48whales come in here with their mums and they're resting.
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