Rescuers from Sea World were alerted to the trapped whale on Wednesday evening, and spent four hours trying to cut the wire, but were unsuccessful.

“Despite poor conditions including 3.5m swells and winds of up to 35 knots, the highly trained team commenced the operation to free the whale using specialised cutting knives and grappling tools,” a spokesperson from Sea World said.

“However, after spending four hours with the whale and not managing to cut the entanglement despite engaging with it on multiple occasions and with the weather deteriorating further, the operation was postponed.”

It wasn’t until the team were back on shore and reviewed the underwater footage, that they realised they were not dealing with rope, but 20mm thick trawler wire that requires specialist equipment to cut through.

“After careful consideration and collaboration with New South Wales Parks and Wildlife, a plan was developed to send divers into the water to use underwater tools to cut the wire from the whale to free it from being anchored,” the spokesperson said.

On Saturday, the rescuers were finally able to attend to the whale once again, and successfully cut through te wire to free it.

A small amount of the wire remains on the whale’s tail.

“Without intervention, this whale would have died a slow and painful death, and I am incredibly proud of our team who completed the operation in such trying and testing conditions to give the whale a second chance at survival,” said Sea World Head of Marine Sciences, Wayne Phillips, adding it was one of the most complex rescues the team had performed.