Beachgoers have jumped to action to help rescue a whale entangled in a shark net on the Gold Coast.
Wayne Phillips, head of Marine Sciences at Sea World, said rescue crews were called about 6:30am.
"We ended up arriving and finding a whale slightly entangled. It wasn't a great entanglement," Mr Phillips said.
"The animal did have a large hump on its back. We think it was an abscess."
Mr Phillips said the whale appeared to be quite sick.
"It was full of lice, the skin condition was bad," he said.
"Clearly, it was an animal that was suffering from some kind of illness."
It is the fifth whale to be caught in Gold Coast shark control nets this year.
In July, a humpback freed itself from the same net before crews arrived.
Surfer John Gordon was one of the first in the water after seeing the whale in distress.
Surfer paddles to the rescue
Mr Gordon was ordering his morning coffee when he spotted splashes on the horizon.
Quickly realising a whale was trapped, he called Sea World, then grabbed his surfboard and paddled out with another beachgoer.
"From what I could see, it's a juvenile whale … and it's getting to the end of its tether with energy," he said.
"So that was our biggest concern, we thought, 'Crikey, we've gotta get this guy moving.'"
Mr Gordon said he and another man had a knife, but decided to stay away and flagged down an approaching rescue boat instead.
In 2020, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries introduced a 20-metre exclusion zone to the shark nets, which could attract a fine of up to $26,690.
"It was sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't," Mr Gordon said.
"It's always going to be an ongoing thing with these shark nets and whether they're worth the while," he said.
"We've got the M1 for the traffic here and this is the M1 for the marine life.
"It's their territory".
'Time for alternatives'
Wildlife scientist and whale specialist Vanessa Pirotta said she was not surprised to hear of another entanglement.
"Unfortunately, we keep having these discussions," Dr Pirotta said.
"This year has been terrible. There's been a number of entanglements in shark nets and various gear.
"It's a big problem, and an ongoing problem, and a really bad situation for whales."
Dr Pirotta said there were "positive discussions" around alternatives like SMART drumlines.
"Every single entanglement is a timely reminder: do we need these nets in the water?" she said.
"That's something that we need to be discussing right now."
Last week, Queensland Fisheries Minister Mark Furner told ABC Gold Coast the government had "no plans" to remove the nets from Gold Coast waters.
He said public safety and human lives came first.
"We're not convinced at this stage [the alternatives work]," he said.
He said his government would continue trialling alternatives.
"We'll analyse [those trials] probably to the end of next year, and see what we will do in terms of introducing those new technologies," Mr Furner said.
The Department of Fisheries has been contacted for comment.
