A humpback whale was spotted off the coast of Leeman struggling to surface, tangled in rope, triggering a frantic local rescue and race against time to save it.

On September 24 a local fisher spotted a humpback whale in serious trouble and reported the sighting at around 1.30pm.

Parks and Wildlife Service staff, supported by the Fisheries WA team from Jurien Bay, mobilised within an hour and raced towards where the whale had been spotted.

By 4pm, the crew located the whale, anchored to the seabed and fighting to breathe. Ropes were wound tightly around its tail, fluke, pectoral fin, and even threaded through its mouth.

The entanglement was complex and the the team were racing against the fading light, but decided on a course of action to try and free the whale without harming it.

The

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