SYDNEY, Australia: A juvenile humpback whale was successfully freed on August 23 after spending 22 hours entangled in ropes and buoys in Sydney Harbour, Australia’s largest city.
The rescue operation began on the afternoon of August 22 when authorities received a distress call about the whale’s plight. Rescue teams raced against time under fading light, but were unable to complete the operation before nightfall.
By dawn the next day, rescuers resumed their efforts, using specialized equipment to secure the whale in place while they carefully cut away the debris. The whale was finally freed just before midday and swam off into the open ocean, marking the end of its 22-hour ordeal.
Jessica Fox, from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, praised the rescue efforts as “incredible.” She noted that while it is not unusual for humpback whales to enter Sydney Harbour occasionally, such entanglements are extremely rare.
Humpback whales, once hunted to near extinction, have made a remarkable recovery in Australian waters, with populations now exceeding 40,000. However, as Ms. Fox pointed out, the increasing number of whales and humans in the ocean raises the potential for more such incidents in the future.
