AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2001
WA: Officers free craypot-entangled humpback calf
PERTH, Dec 4 AAP - Three wildlife officers today freed a five-metre humpback whale
calf tangled in a craypot line at sea off Western Australia.
The whale was spotted 2km off Jurien Bay, 270km north of Perth, about 9am (WST) by
an amateur fisherman.
Wildlife officers in an inflatable boat used special hooked knives to cut through the
ropes, which had passed through the whale's mouth and were stopping it from swimming free.
Although the ocean was calm during the afternoon rescue operation, the officers kept
a keen eye out for the calf's mother as they worked to free the animal, estimated to weigh
up to four tonnes.
Conservation and Land Management department spokesman Keith Hockey said no other whales
had been sighted in the area over the past few days but the presence of the mother during
the operation would have been tricky.
AAP sd/jnb/br
KEYWORD: CALF NIGHTLEAD
2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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