A man who rescued a whale cub caught in the nets near the Gold Coast in a small boat has been fined $ 27,000.
Theguardian news reported that the man rescued the animal on Tuesday morning, as officials took more than two hours to respond.”I saw the whale. I thought it was an easy task to rescue it,” a rescue worker who asked not to be named told reporters. “Then I saw that he was in the net, but the task is not that much easy”. Further he emphasized that He took off his shirt and wore swim fins and released the baby whale’s fins using a knife before diving into the water near Burley Heads. “He was about eight or nine meters deep. My heart was pumping because of adrenaline, “he explained of his repeated resurfacing. A drone operator saw it around 7am and a staff of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries arrived at the scene at 9.45am. However, when they arrive at the place he had already released the whale, a lot of crowd have gathered on the hills above the water by drawing their cheer.
The rescuer was hailed on social media as a hero, but he is now being fined $ 26,900 for interfering with shark control nets. He said that he was caught by the staff from Queensland Fisheries, when he arrived at the beach. “Yes, I’m in a trouble. I didn’t go to see the whales. It’s an expensive day but no matter what … sometimes you pay the price, “he said. “I had no idea what the fine was.”
The Queensland Fisheries Company has confirmed for the investigation of it, but has not yet fined it.Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said that rescue was unbelievably dangerous. “It’s a dangerous equipment. Sometimes we have seen people fall into these equipment and lose their lives.”The department is left to consider whether to prosecute this gentlemen or not.”Jonathan Clark, who works at Sea Shepherd, said the man’s actions were brave.The conservation teams are inquiring the government to remove the shark nets as the whales go north. And has called on the government to remove the shark’s nets to prevent whale injury as they head north for their annual migration.
“Removing these shark nets during the whale migration would be a good start, and it could be accompanied with other technologies, such as drones, prove serious,” Clark said. The state’s shark control program has been controversial for years. Last year, the Human Rights Society successfully challenged elements of the program in court by arguing that catching and killing sharks does not reduce the risk of an unexpected attack. However, a number of shark nets and drum-lines have been reintroduced along the Queensland coast and encourages the release of many sharks, but allows state contractors to kill sharks if needed.
Cover Photo – Norbert Probst/Alamy
