Italian coast guard works to free sperm whale from fishing net

In this image taken from an Italian coast guard video a whale trapped in a net in the waters near the Aeolianislands, in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo / via AP

Italian coast guard divers and biologists were working on Sunday to free a sperm whale that was entangled in a fishing net near a tiny Mediterranean island.

In a coast guard video, a diver can be seen slicing away some of the net in the waters surrounding the Aeolian Island archipelago. Boaters on Saturday had spotted the struggling sperm whale in that stretch of the Tyrrhenian Sea off Italy's west coast and contacted the coast guard.

In corso operazioni per liberare un capodoglio impigliato in una rete da pesca alle #isoleEolie. Sul posto mezzi e sub #GuardiaCostiera e biologi locali. Da gennaio 2020, 100 km di reti irregolari sequestrati dalla Guardia Costiera nel Tirreno meridionale: https://t.co/tSKcQzgsQU pic.twitter.com/xEgUTTc1rB

— Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) July 19, 2020

The operation to free the sperm whale was particularly difficult "due to its state of agitation" that didn't allow for continual intervention near the whale, the coast guard said Sunday.

Three weeks ago, the Italian coast guard freed another sperm whale ensnared in a fishing net, also in the sea off the Aeolian Islands.

The Italian coastguard was working to cut the whale free from the net. It is the second whale in three weeks to be caught up in fishing net. Photo / via AP

The whale was spotted by boaters off the Aeolian Islands in the Mediterranean. Photo / via AP

Since the start of the year, the coast guard has sequestered illegal fishing nets totaling more than a 100km in length. The coast guard says it has stepped up its efforts this year to combat illegal fishing.

- AP