Young humpback whale freed from fishing tackle that had entangled its tail in Sydney Harbor

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A young humpback whale was freed from fishing tackle that had entangled its tail during an almost 24-hour rescue operation in Sydney Harbor.

The juvenile whale immediately began swimming toward the Sydney Heads and the open Pacific Ocean after government wildlife rescuers removed the ropes late Friday morning, Macquarie University whale expert Vanessa Pirotta said.

The distressed whale was first reported by operators of a whale watching cruise ship in the harbor at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

A rescue attempt involving boats, helicopters and drones began Thursday afternoon and resumed at first light Friday.

Pirotta said the whale could have become entangled far earlier than Thursday.

She could tell by the sound of the whale’s breathing that it was “very fatigued” before it was freed.

“Is the whale OK? I hope, I don’t really know. The reality is this animal has been through a huge ordeal,” Pirotta told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“Being entangled in fishing gear is an awful thing, but then having boats and drones in the busiest harbor on Earth, Sydney Harbor — it’s just incredible to see where this has just unfolded,” Pirotta added.

Jessica Fox, an official from the volunteer Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, said the rescue crew attached buoys to the tangled rope to slow the whale so they could eventually hold it in place while they cut the rope away.

“The whale has been going in circles in Sydney Harbor, making some erratic directional changes,” Fox said in video posted on social media on Friday before the mammal was freed.

“As you can imagine, it’s a very, very difficult task to try and disentangle a whale,” Fox added.

Pirotta said it was not clear why the whale had remained in the harbor rather than swim to the open ocean with its tail entangled. But staying in the harbor made rescuers’ job easier, she said.

A humpback whale is considered a juvenile up to 4 years old. Its gender is unknown.