SYDNEY, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A humpback whale calf drowned early Tuesday after being caught in a shark net at a beach in the Sydney area.
The calf was traveling with its mother and other adult whales on the annual migration to antarctic waters, the Manly Daily reported. It was spotted in a net at Mona Vale Beach at about 6 a.m. with its mother circling around.
Shona Lorigan, a volunteer with the marine conservation group ORCA, estimated the calf's age at about 3 months and said it was about 20 feet long. Its mother weighs about 45 tons.
Andrew Hodgson, a local resident who first spotted the calf, described it as "thrashing about."
"You could see the baby just bobbing around," he told the Daily.
A whale disentanglement team from National Parks and Wildlife and volunteers from ORCA removed the calf from the net. The disentanglement team stayed at the beach to ensure no other whales become entangled.
