Calf Whale Tries Desperately To Free Its Mother From Sandbank

In Australia, incredible footage was captured of a whale calf desperately attempting to free its mother from a sandbank.

On Wednesday morning, the large humpback whales were spotted about an hour’s drive from Brisbane, at the North Stradbroke island, according to Gizmodo. When the mother humpback accidentally swam atop a sandbank, she was unable to free herself of the shallow waters.

The unbelievable footage above shows the distressed calf trying to push and shove its mother free from the bank.

A team from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services was sent in response to help rescue the pair of whales. They were going to stabilize the humpbacks until a team from Sea World could arrive to help free them, BBC explains.

Amazingly, about 40 minutes after getting stuck, the mother humpback was freed from the shallow water thanks to the incoming tides and efforts of the calf. After the scary moment, both the mother and calf were unhurt. However, they did appear distressed and exhausted from the frightening incident.

The Queensland National Parks Facebook page shared a video of the two whales with the caption:

“No need to blubber—the two humpbacks that were stranded on a sandbar north of Stradbroke Island have just freed themselves!

Both mum and bub are doing well and we’ve been keeping an eye on them to make sure they clear the shallow waters. If you’re out in a boat today can we ask that you stay clear and give them a bit of space to swim free?”

At this time of year on the Queensland coast in Australia, whales are common in the area as they go there to give birth and rear their calves before swimming back to the waters of the Antarctic.

Kudos to this brave calf whale for helping free its mother from the shallow waters!

[H/T Gizmodo, BBC]