Whale entangled in fishing gear freed in Kaikōura

The entangled humpback whale. Photo / Will Rayment/University of Otago

A humpback whale that was found tangled up in fishing gear off the coast of Kaikōura has now been freed.

A team working to save the whale cut the rope that was entangling it last night.

The animal had been spotted by a University of Otago lecturer and students off the Otago coast late on Thursday. It had fishing lines entangled around its body and tail and was trailing a buoy, while trying to make its way north.

Yesterday, the whale was spotted off the coast of Kaikōura and reported to the Department of Conservation (DoC) by Whale Watch Kaikōura.

A large whale disentanglement team worked for about three hours to free the whale and finally cut the last rope off about 7pm.

The whale now has deep cuts from the ropes but should make a full recovery.

According to DoC ranger Mike Morrissey, the whale will now likely continue to move north on the annual humpback whale migration to tropical waters.

"The rope was tightly wound around its tail leaving extensive and deep cuts but they should heal."

The Department of Conservation asks that anyone who spots an entangled whale call DoC's 24h hotline 0800 DOCHOT (0800 36 24 68) rather than attempt to free the whale themselves.

Morrissey said the whale was "thrashing about, rolling, and tail slapping" while the team of experts were disentangling it.

"If you didn't have experience and know what to expect it would be dangerous and people could get harmed."

The procedure for disentangling whales is called kegging and involves using grapnel hooks to attach rope and floats to material entangling a whale to slow it down and tire it out.

When the whale is sufficiently exhausted, the disentanglement team edge along the rope until they are close enough to reach over with a long pole and a range of various knife blades to cut away the material entangling the whale.