A humpback whale calf has died off the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon, while its mother was freed after being found entangled in shark nets.

According to a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, they were notified of the mother whale in distress off Kurrawa Beach about 1pm and sent out a rescue team, as did Sea World.

A juvenile Humpback whale caught in a shark net off the Gold Coast in 2005 (file picture). Credit:Gold Coast Bulletin

Rescuers managed to free the whale, but as the mammal swam away they noticed the dead calf on the sea bed.

The spokesman said either the calf had been stillborn and the stress caused the mother to swim into the nets, or the calf had been stillborn due to the mother's stress of being caught.

The body could not be retrieved, but if it did wash up on the coast, an autopsy would be carried out.

It comes after there were reports another whale had been caught in nets off the Gold Coast on Friday, but the department spokesman said by the time rescuers arrived there was no whale in sight.

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