Another whale calf was caught in shark nets off Noosa Main Beach on Monday, just two days after Noosa residents took part in a protest calling for the state government to remove the nets during whale migration season.
Two paddlers told Noosa Today they saw the whale calf stranded in the shark net and its mother, clearly distressed, circling around it, as they paddled near by about 7am. At the time a university research vessel had stopped in the vicinity.
By 9.30am several boats had gathered in the area including a Department of Primary Industries (Queensland Fisheries) vessel. Fisheries officers in an inflatable boat approached the calf and cut the net on one side of it, but it remained caught. They approached again to release the net on the other side.
The calf appeared to remain fairly still as they worked to free it.
The King’s Birthday holiday, school holidays and beautiful spring weather had drawn large crowds to Noosa Heads.
The drama played out in front of thousands of beach goers on Main Beach, while hundreds of others walked along the Park Road boardwalk and into Noosa National Park, many watching and taking photos of the trapped whale calf being freed.
The whale entanglement reignited calls on social media for the shark nets to be removed during whale migration season.
