4 October, 2019
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, with NSW Water Police, have disentangled the juvenile whale sighted off Sydney’s northern beaches earlier this morning.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) can confirm the whale was definitely NOT entangled in its SMART Drumlines.
The whale was entangled in a shark mesh panel from the Queensland Shark Control Program which it has carried down the coast from Coolangatta or Noosa.
The big orange buoys used on DPI SMART drumlines are very similar to those used on the Queensland nets, which caused confusion and the misunderstanding that the whale was caught in DPI’s SMART drumlines.
The whale is understood to be the same animal first sighted at Scotts Head on 29 September, then Seal Rocks and Catherine Hill Bay.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service are the lead agency in NSW for marine mammals and any associated disentanglement incidents.
Phone: (02) 6391 3686