Whale net entanglements may rise : expert (Australia)

A humpback whale is freed from a shark net

August 14^th, 2014. There are fears more migrating humpback whales may be caught in shark nets off south east Queensland.

At least five have been caught in nets so far this season, including a baby humpback which died after becoming entangled off the southern Gold Coast in late July.

Griffith University Australian Rivers Institute research fellow Dr Olaf Meynecke has been following the issue of shark net entanglement closely.

He says there are two main reasons whales are being caught more often.

“One is we simply have more animals in the water every year, so statistically you automatically will have more incidents,” he said.

“But also there’s another element… there is a trend developing [where] we get more and more calves actually being born near or in the Gold Coast.”

Dr Meynecke has been observing whale behaviour in the waters off the Gold Coast for the past few years.

Approximately 18,000 whales are expected to migrate north from Antarctic waters this year.

They head north to mate and give birth, but an increasing number are birthing along the way.

The calves are then spending more time on the surface, increasing the risk of entanglement.

“It’s almost easy to predict that the chances of an entanglement are very high when the conditions are calm,” Dr Meynecke said.

“The animals will come close to the shore just because they can relax, they do not fear to be washed up and they feel safe in shallow and sandy waters.”

Call to cut shark nets

Calls have been made to remove Gold Coast shark nets during winter to reduce the risk.

Trevor Long says the 11 nets should be removed and replaced with drum lines.

“There are issues attached with the drum lines as well but they’re probably the lesser of two evils,” he said.

Dr Meynecke agrees.

“Of course drum lines are not the best option as well, but I would say, if this is the alternative, then okay this is better than nothing,” he said.

Despite the increased risk of entanglement, the growth in whale numbers is proving exciting for researchers.

“We can monitor more animals, we can study their behaviour much better,” Dr Meynecke said.

“No one actually has ever seen a calf drinking from a mother… it’s hard for us to get actual footage or evidence of it.”

The whales are expected to migrate south again in October.

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