An entangled 8-10m humpback whale has been freed off the coast of Fremantle

After the incredibly sad pilot whale situation down in Albany last week, we figured it would be nice to share some good whale news this week, coming in the form of a DBCA update yesterday.

After discovering an 8-10m humpback whale entangled in nets a couple of kilometres north of the heads at Fremantle yesterday afternoon, a rescue effort ultimately proved successful.

“Staff spent over two hours with the whale yesterday working to cut it free,” said the Facebook update.

“It had multiple entanglements around its tail and body, most of which were removed.”

During the rescue trained responders attached a satellite tag to the entanglement in case they needed to keep track of the whale over night or if conditions became unsafe.

Unfortunately one last entanglement could not be removed, however DBCA were confident enough was done for the whale to “free itself of its remaining rope as it continues its migration.”

If you’re on the high waters at any time and happen to come across marine life entangled in nets, the DBCA asks you please call the Wildcare Helpline on 9474 9055.

The “Humpback Highway” is currently running right through until October, with humpback whales making their annual migration from summer breeding grounds in the north west to winter feeding grounds off the Antarctic.

Image Credit: DBCA, from a previous whale disentanglement operation.