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Reuters

The Italian coastguard has been working for days to free a massive sperm whale caught in an abandoned fishing net in open sea off the Sicilian Aeolian Islands.
The female whale was spotted on Saturday struggling to get free of a net usually used for fishing illegally for swordfish.
The coastguard said in a statement that operations were hampered by the large size of the whale, which had become highly agitated.

Due to its energetic efforts to free itself, the whale had been given the name “Fury”. It is the second time in less than a month that the Italian coastguard has had to intervene to free a sperm whale tangled in a fishing net.
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“These damn fishing nets are doing huge damage. I haven’t slept in 36 hours … divers managed to take off some of the net but then it started to move and it became too dangerous,” biologist Monica Blasi told daily newspaper La Repubblica.
Blasi said they attached a light to Fury’s tail so as not to lose sight of it as they tried to remove the rest of the net.
On Sunday, scuba divers worked hard to cut loose the fishing net before the whale escaped into deeper waters.

With the fishing net still partially wrapped around her tail, the sperm whale “could struggle to go dive down and hunt in deeper waters”, Blasi said.
The Greenpeace environmental group said the fishing net the whale got caught in, used to catch swordfish, was outlawed some 20 years ago.
It urged the Italian government to enforce the ban more forcefully.
A male sperm whale was trapped in another net off the Aeolian islands three weeks ago, but in that case scuba divers managed to free him completely.



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Italian coastguard divers fight to free massive sperm whale from fishing nets

A whale trapped in a fish net in the waters near the Eolian islands, in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian coastguard divers attempted to free the whale before it swam off. Photo: AP

Italian coastguard divers work to free a sperm whale caught in a fishing net at sea north of the Sicilian Aeolian Islands in this still image taken from a video, July 19, 2020. Picture taken July 19, 2020. Italian coastguard/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. DO NOT OBSCURE LOGO.

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Researchers collect data about the whale carcass. Photo: AP

In this undated photo released by Akademi Komunitas Kelautan dan Perikanan Wakatobi (Wakatobi Marine and Fisheries Community Academy or AKKP Wakatobi), researchers collect samples from the carcass of a beached whale at Wakatobi National Park in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The dead whale that washed ashore in eastern Indonesia had a large lump of plastic waste in its stomach, including drinking cups and flip-flops, a park official said Tuesday, causing concern among environmentalists and government officials in one of the world's largest plastic polluting countries. (Muhammad Irpan Sejati Tassakka, AKKP Wakatobi via AP)

A man collects plastic items from a whale's belly, in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, November 19, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. KARTIKA SUMOLANG/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.

Plastic items from a whale's belly are seen in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, November 19, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. ALFI KUSUMA ADMAJA/AKKP WAKATOBI/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.

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Scientists have developed a way to conceal messages in the sound pulses that sperm whales emit. Photo: AP

A Chinese Navy submarine attends an international fleet review to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy on April 23, 2009 off Qingdao in Shandong Province. Fifty-six Chinese subs, destroyers, frigates, missile boats and planes were displayed off the eastern port city of Qingdao just weeks after tensions flared following a naval stand-off with the United States in the South China Sea. AFP PHOTO / POOL / Guang Niu / AFP PHOTO / POOL / GUANG NIU

A trout farm belonging to Leroy, a Norwegian seafood company, near the village of Tepstad, Norway, July 30, 2018. Picture taken July 30, 2018. To match Special Report OCEANS-TIDE/FUTURE REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Two adult sperm whales die after  beaching on East China coast 

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The female whale was spotted on Saturday struggling to get free of a net usually used for illegally catching swordfish
It is the second time in less than a month that the Italian coastguard has had to intervene to free a sperm whale tangled in a fishing net



This is the second time in less than a month that the Italian coastguard has had to intervene to free a sperm whale tangled in a fishing net.


Animals

Conservation

Italian coastguard divers fight to free massive sperm whale from fishing nets

The female whale was spotted on Saturday struggling to get free of a net usually used for illegally catching swordfish It is the second time in less than a month that the Italian coastguard has had to intervene to free a sperm whale tangled in a fishing net

The female whale was spotted on Saturday struggling to get free of a net usually used for illegally catching swordfish

It is the second time in less than a month that the Italian coastguard has had to intervene to free a sperm whale tangled in a fishing net