Authorities are continuing to look for a juvenile humpback whale that was last seen entangled in a rope off the coast near Wilsons Promontory.
The whale was 250 metres off the coast of Cape Wellington on the east side of Wilsons Prom and heading south.
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) said aerial reconnaissance on Sunday failed to locate the whale, and there were plans to continue the search on Monday.
The first sighting of the humpback whale was reported late on Saturday afternoon by a wildlife tour boat. There was another sighting on Sunday morning near the lighthouse at South East Point.
The whale was last sighted off the eastern coast of Wilsons Promontory. (Graeme Burgan/Wildlife Coast Cruises)
Graeme Burgan is a tour guide in the area and initially spotted the whale on Saturday during a boat trip.
“The whale actually came over to the boat — young juvenile whales like that are quite inquisitive,” he told ABC Gippsland radio.
Entanglements may cause distress, suffering or even death to an animal caught in netting or ropes. (Graeme Burgan/Wildlife Coast Cruises)
Mr Burgan said as the whale approached, he saw it had clearly sustained significant injuries as a result of becoming tangled.
“As it’s been swimming down the coast towing that bit of rope, it’s cut into its back on three or four sites,” he said.
“You could sort of see its rib cage on the top of its body … it looked like its bones were starting to show on the surface.”
Graeme Burgan says he saw barnacles growing on the whale, something he had never seen before. (Graeme Burgan/Wildlife Coast Cruises)
Mr Burgan said it was distressing to see the whale in that condition.
“It was just pretty upsetting to actually see that and not be able to do anything about it,” he said.
“I had to hold myself back [from] jumping in the water and cutting it off, but it’s best to let trained people do that.”
Whale likely separated from mother
Craig Ryan from whale rescue group ORCCA said it was likely the juvenile whale had become separated from its mother during migration.
“It has got lost, it hasn’t got that travel imprint of where to go from its mother yet,” Mr Ryan said.
“It’s probably been abandoned on this trip south and it’s trying to work out where to go, but because it’s never done it before, it doesn’t know where to go.”
He said the entanglement meant the whale was stuck in areas where it couldn’t feed as well, and would lack the energy to get back up the coast during breeding season.
The juvenile humpback was described as moving very slowly and seemingly in distress. (Graeme Burgan/Wildlife Coast Cruises)
DEECA incident controller Renee Hutchinson said the whale sightings fell outside of the usual whale migration patterns.
“Generally they head north in the winter to calf in the warmer waters of northern Australia, and then they return later in the year to the feeding grounds in Antarctica,” Ms Hutchinson told ABC Gippsland radio.
“It’s very unusual to have a whale here at this time of year. It seems to have been delayed by being wrapped in rope.”
It is believed the entangled whale is the same juvenile humpback sighted earlier this month in Jervis Bay, New South Wales.
Ms Hutchinson said authorities would try to locate the whale and remove the rope if possible.
She warned members of the public to stay at least 200 metres away from the whale if they sighted it.
“It may dive in the presence of boats because it is scared and afraid,” she said.
“We’d really encourage people if they are out and about on the water to not approach the whale because it is a wild animal and unpredictable.”
Anyone who sees the whale is encouraged to call the DEECA Whale and Dolphin Emergency Hotline on 1300 136 017.