A young humpback whale with ropes entangled in its tail has been freed.
The whale was found exhausted at a Tory Channel mussel farm on Friday evening, entangled in one of its nets.
Contractors pulled a barge alongside the whale just before midnight and spent 45 minutes cutting it free, using a crane on the barge.
Scott Madsen, one of the contractors, says the rope was embedded at least 10cm into the whale's flesh.
He says the whale was so exhausted it did not fight.
The Department of Conservation says it's pleased that the whale has been cut free - but cautions it's usually better to leave such rescues to experts.
DoC says the whale was first sighted off Banks Peninsula on 27 June and was seen again off the south Marlborough coast on Tuesday.
A ferry crew reported sighting the whale in Cook Strait on Friday morning, before it turned into the waters of Tory Channel at about midday.
