Rescuers teamed up with a humpback whale to free her four-metre calf, who became entangled in shark nets off Australia's Gold Coast. The mother pushed the calf above the surface of the water, while a rescue team from Sea World Australia and Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol cut the netting with specialised equipment. Saturday's rescue near Coolangatta Beach took about 30 minutes, Mitchell Olivey, Sea World Australia communications manager, told Reuters on Monday. Mother and calf swam away calmly in good health, the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation reported. The incident reignites a debate over the use of shark nets after 189 sea creatures died in one year. Mark Saul, a spokesman for the Fisheries Patrol, which helped in the rescue effort, told Australian broadcaster ABC the whales were "very calm". He said: "Mum had just pushed into the nets slightly to help keep the calf up on the surface, which she was doing quite well." Experts in New South Wales have said the use of preventative nets on the state's northern beaches goes against expert recommendations of the government's own departments, as well as the scientific consensus. Authorities argue the case for using the nets as there has been one fatality across 51 beaches where the scheme has been used since 1937. However, there have been 33 attacks at the same beaches in the same period. - Reuters (with inputs from skynews.com)
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