{"id":179004,"date":"2025-09-30T02:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179004\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T02:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:45:08","slug":"twelve-whales-have-been-tangled-in-shark-nets-off-queenslands-coast-so-far-this-year-heres-why-whales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179004\/","title":{"rendered":"Twelve whales have been tangled in shark nets off Queensland\u2019s coast so far this year. Here\u2019s why | Whales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists say a flourishing whale population that is swimming closer to shore and into the path of shark nets is contributing to the 50% increase in entanglements off Queensland\u2019s coast this year.<\/p>\n

Nine entanglements involving 12 whales have already occurred this year, compared with six on average<\/a>, many off the Sunshine Coast. Eight whales were tangled in shark nets in 2024.<\/p>\n

Prof Rob Harcourt, a marine ecologist at Macquarie University, said late September and early October was \u201cpeak whale\u201d on the east coast as humpbacks made their southerly migration towards their Antarctic feeding grounds.<\/p>\n

While whale entanglements in nets were \u201chorrible\u201d, Harcourt said the higher number this year likely reflected the growing humpback population, as well as the position of an ocean current bringing them closer to shore.<\/p>\n

The recovery of humpback whales \u2013 with numbers reaching 50,000 this year \u2013 had been a success story, he said.<\/p>\n

\"HumpbackHumpback whale and calf caught in shark net off Noosa \u2013 video<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that increasing population, you have a lot more bubs born\u201d \u2013 and more that could get caught in shark nets.<\/p>\n

The location of the east Australian current \u2013 a strong ocean current running north-to-south along Australia\u2019s east coast \u2013 was likely a contributing factor, he said.<\/p>\n

A University of Sunshine Coast study<\/a> in 2020 found entanglements in shark nets were more likely to occur when the inner edge of that current shifted closer to the shore.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

The study\u2019s lead author, Dr Jessica Bolin, said the current\u2019s inner edge formed a large thermal front \u2013 a boundary between warm and cool water \u2013 which whales may use as a natural navigation cue during their migrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [east Australian current] is a warm, powerful and highly dynamic ocean current that changes position from day to day,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen that front hugs the coastline, humpbacks may be following it inshore, which unfortunately also raises their chances of encountering shark nets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sunshine Coast is also a pinch point on their migration route, with multiple shark nets placed right across that corridor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the worst case, entanglements could cause drowning, Harcourt said. But even minor incidents could have long-term effects on the animal due to the high levels of stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to stop entanglement, really, is to take the nets out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other approaches such as acoustic deterrents had been trialled but were ineffective, he said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Queensland\u2019s premier, David Crisafulli, said<\/a> the state was \u201cnot for turning\u201d on its plan to expand shark netting after reports of another mother and calf trapped off Rainbow Beach. He said the state would not put protecting whales \u201cat the expense of one single human\u201d.<\/p>\n

The total number of whales affected each year in Queensland fluctuated between 1 and 15 (in 2022), according to QFish data. QFish is part of the state\u2019s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.<\/p>\n

Twelve whales had been affected so far in the 2025 migration season, which has four weeks still to go.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Queensland\u2019s Department of Primary Industries said all whales caught in nets had been released \u201csafely and alive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr Olaf Meynecke, who researches marine mammals at Griffith University, said the majority of entanglements used to occur near the Gold Coast but have shifted towards the Sunshine Coast since 2020.<\/p>\n

Most involved mothers and calves, he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got higher calving rates, and that increases entanglements.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Primary Industries said its 51 shark nets were fitted with acoustic \u201cwhale alarms\u201d and \u201cdolphin pingers\u201d designed to deter marine mammals away from the nets.<\/p>\n

Smart drumlines are designed to break apart if a whale swims through them, which occurred in 22 cases this year. However in June a whale became tangled in one off Nobby\u2019s beach in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

A federal environment department spokesperson said humpback whales were listed as a migratory species and protected under federal environment laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, as shark nets and subsequent cetacean entanglements occur within state and territory jurisdictions, incident response activities are a responsibility of the relevant state or territory government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists say a flourishing whale population that is swimming closer to shore and into the path of shark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-179004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}