A humpback whale that was towing an anchor and rope behind its tail was freed in a delicate rescue operation off Queensland's Gold Coast earlier today.
Researchers out on the water spotted the entangled whale on Monday morning while carrying out work with Griffith University on the vessel Sea World One.
"They spotted the whale become entangled off the 24 Fathom Reef, East of Surfers Paradise," a spokesperson for the Sea World Foundation said.
A rescue team was quickly deployed on another boat, Sea World Two, and met up with Sea World One to commence the rescue operation, according to the foundation.
The 10-metre humpback was "still full of energy and swimming at a speed of 8-10 knots" (15-18km/h) — making the operation "challenging" for the highly trained team involved.
They managed to "grapple a large buoy onto the trailing rope, which put enough pressure to remove the anchor and rope from the whale’s tail fluke.
"The team completed a full visual check to ensure all equipment was removed and left the whale to continue its migration with only minimal superficial wounds to its tail."
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