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South African rescuers have freed a nine metre long humpback whale that was entangled in seven fishing ropes north of Cape Town.
The juvenile whale was found south-east of Dassen Island on Thursday with its mouth snared by a heavy rope.
Mike Meyer of the Department of Environmental Affairs says that during the nearly five-hour rescue operation, the team attached a large flotation buoy to the whale to prevent it from diving below the surface as the rescue boat approached.
The flotation buoy kept the whale buoyant enough to allow the rescue team to cut the rope from its mouth and remove a number of other ropes entangled around the tail.
Meyer said the whale was not seriously injured and appeared to be in good health.
Picture supplied by the Department of Environmental Affairs
