Environmentalists call for nets to be removed after humpback whale is freed on Sunshine Coast

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The Queensland government has rejected calls to scrap shark safety nets at beaches after a humpback whale was freed after becoming entangled within one of the nets on the Sunshine Coast.

A large adult male humpback, estimated to be about nine metres long, became enmeshed within a shark net around 800 metres off the coast of Noosa on Friday morning.

A team from the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol was able to cut the whale, which weighs around eight tonnes, free after the net wrapped around one pectoral fin and its tail. Rescuers said that the whale remained calm and sea conditions were good, aiding its release.

The incident, the first entrapment of a whale in shark nets this migration season, prompted the Australian Marine Conservation Society to demand nets be removed from Queensland's coast.

Nets and drumlines, situated near 85 beaches to protect swimmers, snared a total of 713 sharks last year, according to Queensland government data. Nets and drumlines were erected by the state government following a spate of shark attacks on humans prior to 1962.

But the nets are blamed for unintentionally trapping other creatures, with the AMCS pointing to freedom of information-obtained analysis from 2009 that shows seven dugongs, 36 sea turtles, 90 dolphins and two humpback whales were caught and killed by shark nets in the prior five years.

The state government said that 35 whales have been trapped in shark nets since 2000, with 32 freed and three dying.

"These nets catch a whole range of life," said Darren Kindleysides, director of the AMCS. "Western Australia looked at a shark net program, but decided it wasn't the route to go down because of the environmental impact."

"There are other alternatives to protect beachgoers. The state could increase beach surveillance and flyovers which are more environmentally friendly."

"The bottom line is that these nets give a perceived sense of safety. The nets have big gaps where the sharks can swim through, so it's not really a barrier, it's just a large fishing net to kill sharks. There is little sense to them."

The AMCS wants Queensland, at a minimum, to remove nets during the winter migration season, as NSW – the only other state to routinely use nets – does.

However, Jeff Krause, manager of Queensland's shark control program, said that the nets would remain in place to ensure the safety of swimmers.

"While shark control equipment does not provide an impenetrable barrier between swimmers and sharks, it is effective in reducing the overall number of sharks in the area, making it a safer place to swim.

"Since the start of the program over 50 years ago, there has been one shark fatality at a shark control beach in Queensland.

"Shark control equipment remains in place throughout the year as sharks are active along the Queensland coastline year round, and Queensland's beaches are also a regularly popular destination for swimmers even during winter. Human safety must come first and that's why we're committed to this program."

Krause added that all nets are fitted with electronic devices to ward off whales and deploy bait that doesn't attract dolphins or turtles.

Environmentalists consider humpback whales a conservation success story. The creatures were nearly hunted to extinction until a ban on killing them in 1963 allowed their numbers to rebound. There are now around 14,000 that undertake the annual winter migration from Antarctic waters to the warmer Coral Sea waters and then back again, in order to breed.