A humpback whale that was found tangled up in fishing gear off the coast of Kaikōura has now been freed.
A team working to save the whale cut the rope that was entangling it last night.
The animal had been spotted by a University of Otago lecturer and students off the Otago coast late on Thursday. It had fishing lines entangled around its body and tail and was trailing a buoy, while trying to make its way north.
Yesterday, the whale was spotted off the coast of Kaikōura and reported to the Department of Conservation (DoC) by Whale Watch Kaikōura.
A large whale disentanglement team worked for about three hours to free the whale and finally cut the last rope off about 7pm.