Humpback whale dragged fishing gear for 1700km before dying

A humpback whale in Australia died on a beach in Port Macquarie in New South Wales on Sunday just hours after rescuers had removed fishing gear from its body. The whale was in poor condition and the gear was identified as having come from Tasmania, more than 1700km away.

Attempts to tow the whale’s body out to sea were unsuccessful so it was buried on the beach which has now been closed after a number of sharks were sighted in the area.

Humpbacks migrate from feeding grounds in Antarctica to breed in warmer waters off the east coast of Australia and islands in the South Pacific.