A humpback whale became stranded on a sandbar in the Coolongolook River in New South Wales, Australia. Rescuers with Sea World Foundation came to the aid of the whale and helped pull it back out into deeper waters so it could swim away.
AUSTRALIA – Rescuers jumped in to save a whale that swam into a river in coastal Australia and got stranded on a sandbar, unable to move itself.
Video from Tuesday shows rescuers with Sea World Foundation helping NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) and the Forster Dive Centre, to save the whale.
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The humpback was 29.5 feet long, and believed to be young.
The whale stranded in very shallow water on the sandbar.
(Sea World Foundation via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Sea World Foundation said the whale swam into the Coolongolook River near the coastal town of Forster, Australia, on Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, the whale got stuck on a sandbar.
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Video of the rescue on Tuesday shows the Sea World Foundation team and other rescuers in boats along the river looking for the whale.
They devised a plan, and came up to the whale with the engines off to not startle the animal.
The next clip showed a Sea World Foundation worker using a pole to gently nudge the animal, while someone else splashed water on the whale to try to get it to move.
The crews all spoke about how to rescue the whale.
(Sea World Foundation via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The whale kept making noises as they tried to maneuver the giant animal off the sandbar.
When that didn’t work, the team made a system to move the whale using ropes and tugging it gently with the boat.
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People were on each side of the whale to ensure its safety, and the boat pulled to free the whale.
They used boats to pull the whale off the sandbar.
(Sea World Foundation via Storyful / FOX Weather)
“Release him! Release him!” the boat team yelled as the whale was finally moved off the sandbar into deeper waters.
From there, they all got back into the water to help coax the whale in the right direction.
A rescuer dodges the whale’s tail as they guided it back into deep water.
(Sea World Foundation via Storyful / FOX Weather)
As the whale continued on its way, all the rescuers followed in their boats to make sure it didn’t turn back around.
Eventually, the whale made its way back out and blew water through its blow hole.
The whale pushes water out of its blow hole after swimming into deeper water.
(Sea World Foundation via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Sea World Foundation’s head of marine sciences, Wayne Phillips, said it was a mammoth effort, but it was great to see the whale swimming in the deeper channel.
