Whale rescued off Gold Coast after surfers try to free it

Animal rescue teams are warning against the release of whales caught in shark nets after surfers went to the aid of a trapped animal on the Gold Coast this morning.

Sea World and the Department of Fisheries were called to a whale entangled in a shark net off Currumbin just before 6 am.

It was the 12th whale to have been caught in the shark control equipment since June.

The crews were beaten to the scene by members of the public who had paddled out after spotting the 8 metre-long animal struggling.

Rodney and Fabian approached the whale and began to untangle it.

Rodney said that there were a few good citizens around, so we thought we would lend a hand.

Fabian said the situation was difficult and that he was just a little bit wary not to stress him out too much, but it was the right result in the end when Sea World got there, he said.

Rodney said that the couple was approached by Sea World, who directed them to move on.

There have been several reports of the public trying to help with rescue operations.

Last month, surfers attempted to rescue a whale from the same net in Currumbin.

A recreational diver escaped a fine in 2020 after cutting free a humpback in Burleigh Heads.

Sea World's head of marine science, Wayne Phillips, said that he appreciated people wanted to help, but members of the public should leave it to the professionals.

These animals are huge and extremely powerful, he said.

We want to make sure everyone is safe - we do this, we are practised for this, we do it a lot, we're experts at it. He said that crews were trained to use specialised equipment, never leave the boat and monitor for re-entanglement.

Queensland Shark Control Program manager Michael Mikitis said that the rescue teams had a good track record and that the number of entanglements was above average this year.

He said that 12 is a little bit unusual because we usually see about six entanglement per year.

We have to recognize the number of whales passing our coastline each year. In 2019 there was an exclusion zone of 20 meters for all shark control equipment.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries could hand out fines of up to $26,690 to anyone who approaches the equipment.

Mikitis said the department would prefer to take an educational approach and no-one had been fined for breaching the zone.

A Fisheries spokeswoman said the equipment can be dangerous, and that anyone who is interfering with it runs the risk of getting entangled.

They said that while the department understood people's desire to act, independent action puts themselves, the entangled whale and Fisheries animal rescue team at risk Anyone who spots a whale stuck in shark nets should call the Queensland Shark Control Program hotline on.