Bummer. The sun's just come up, so I hope they can help this whale out ASAP. 🤞
#Whales 🐳
Update:
They've found the whale still in Sydney Harbour and are trying to remove the fishing gear now.
Update:
Looks like they've untangled a lot of it because the whale's charging around at speed now, but it's still trailing gear so they're working on attaching buoys closer and closer to the whale so they can cut it free.
It's only a very small juvenile humpback so it's pretty nimble and is leading them on quite a chase.
Update:
They've managed to attach a buoy only a couple of body-lengths back now, so that'll keep the whale nearer the surface so they can close in on it. These people are heroes.
Update:
They're very close now. You can see one strand of rope wrapped around the whale's tail when it breaches, which is good because they'll only need to cut through that to set it free, but they'll want to get right up close and that's gonna be tough in a small inflatable boat with a whale's tail moving around.
Update:
They had to drop back to get more buoys, but they're working their way back up the rope now.
The whale's staying on the surface now, and the rope is clearly visible as the rescuers work their way up it. They're gonna do it. The only question is whether any of them end up in the water with the whale.
Update:
Here's a good shot of where all this is happening. It's quite a long way into the Harbour.
Update:
They managed to hook on a fourth buoy and headed back for another.
Meanwhile, this shows how fast the whale's swimming. Think Jaws with the barrels attached, and it's a bit like that.
