Whales Ensnared: Australia's Harrowing Entanglement Crisis
Paul Riverbank, 1/11/2025Harrowing whale entanglements off Australia's east coast, with up to 100 whales suffering slow deaths, demand urgent action through better fishing gear management and cross-jurisdiction coordination to prevent this ethical crisis.
A harrowing sight unfolded off Australia's east coast last year — at least 45 whales entangled in fishing ropes and lines, their majestic bodies slowly succumbing to the relentless drag of the gear. Dr. Olaf Meynecke, a marine scientist at Griffith University, estimates the true toll could be closer to 100 whales caught in this agonizing plight, describing it as "the worst way of dying for any marine...animal."
The issue of preventing whale entanglements, Meynecke laments, is "largely ignored in Australia." Only about 15 whales were successfully disentangled in 2024, a sobering statistic that underscores the need for a coordinated effort across multiple jurisdictions to address this crisis. "It takes weeks to several months until they actually die," he says, painting a grim picture of the whales' prolonged suffering as they slowly exhaust their energy reserves while dragging the burdensome gear along their migration routes.
One particularly poignant case involved a juvenile humpback spotted near South West Rocks in New South Wales on December 5th, its tail entangled in rope and floats. Two weeks later, it was sighted further south near Terrigal, "literally floating south" at a mere 1.2km/h with the east Australian current, according to Meynecke's analysis of drone footage. A rescue mission ultimately removed the gear, but the whale, having endured at least two months of this torment, perished and washed ashore days later at Lakes beach in Budgewoi.
Wayne Phillips, Sea World's head of marine sciences, echoes the gravity of the situation: "There's a lot of times when we'll get out to an entanglement where we just think, this animal should just probably be put to sleep." But euthanizing these massive creatures is not a viable option. Phillips cautions the public against attempting to cut the gear themselves, as it can hinder complete disentanglement by rescue teams.
While the number of confirmed entanglements may seem small compared to the estimated 40,000 humpbacks migrating along Australia's east coast annually, Meynecke emphasizes that preventing such incidents is an ethical imperative. "Even the smallest float around the tail would mean, over several weeks, a loss of all energy reserves," he says, underscoring the relentless toll on these majestic creatures.
Solutions lie in better management of fishing gear — modifying commercial gear to "start working with less line," as Meynecke suggests, and coordinating with scientists to vary fishing locations based on whale migration routes. "Most fishermen have no interest, of course, in catching whales and it's actually very annoying for them because they lose quite a lot of gear," he notes, highlighting the potential for collaborative efforts.
Phillips echoes this sentiment, calling for fisheries authorities to "work together across state lines and make sure that people are responsible for their fishing gear and that they report gear that's gone missing." It is a clarion call for action, a plea to address a crisis that inflicts unimaginable suffering on these gentle giants of the sea — a crisis that demands our collective attention and urgent response.
