Whale Calf Caught in Shark Net Rescued by Diver

A diver saved a whale calf entangled in shark netting on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday. The man, named by local 9 News as only Django, came to the young animal's aid as officials reportedly took more than two hours to respond to a 7 a.m. call concerning a trapped whale near Burleigh Heads. According to 9 News, the diver took a small boat to where the whale was trapped. It is not known how long the animal had been there at the time of the rescue. Using a knife, Django was able to disentangle the calf and set it free. "I saw the whale and I thought, 'That is pretty cool.' Then I saw he was in the net and I thought, 'That is not cool," he told reporters. "He was about eight to nine meters deep. Because of the adrenalin my heart was just pumping." Django said the whale, believed to be a humpback, was "really cut up" after its pectoral fin became caught the shark net.

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According to the Australian Associated Press, Django may be in for a fine of up to $26,900 Australian dollars (US$17,584) fine for interfering with shark control nets. Mark Furner, Fisheries Minister, said his actions were unsafe, adding: "It will be up to the department to consider whether this gentleman will be prosecuted at all." According to Brisbane Times, a spokesperson from Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said no decision has been made regarding the fine and the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol is continuing to investigate the incident. "Yeah, I'm in trouble. I wasn't going out there to see whales. It was an expensive day but whatever...you pay the price sometimes," Django said. "I didn't think about what the fine was." While the incident may not have gone down too well with the authorities, onlookers applauded Django's actions. "Good on him," one told 9 News. Django received a cheer from onlookers who had congregated nearby on his return to shore. In a statement sent to Newsweek on May 21, a Fisheries Queensland spokesperson confirmed the department served a Gold Coast man with two Fisheries Infringement Notices (FINs). "On this occasion he is not being given a monetary fine because he has no previous record of infringements with the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP)," the spokesperson explained. "This is consistent with the general approach of the QBFP to consider education and awareness before imposing harsher penalties. However, he—or others—may not be so lucky should there be a next time. "To be clear this incident could have had a tragic outcome. The actions we saw earlier this week were reckless and completely unnecessary. The Marine Animal Rescue Team (MART) was just minutes away when this person went into the water. "He put himself in serious danger, as well as potentially injuring the whale, and creating a situation where MART could have been at significant risk trying to rescue a trapped swimmer next to the thrashing whale." According to Fisheries Queensland, there were six whale entanglements along their coast in 2019, three of which occurred on the Gold Coast. All six were successfully released. The use of nets to minimise contact with large sharks has been controversial. One of the major concerns with using this equipment has been the level of bycatch—animals not targeted by the nets being caught accidentally. Following a successful challenge by the Humane Society in April 2019, the nets were removed from the Queensland coast. However, they were reinstalled in certain areas in February, the Queensland Government's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries' website states. The article has been updated to include a statement from Fisheries Queensland.