WOLLONGONG City Council was forced to pay more than $44,000 to recover a 4.7-tonne whale from Scarborough Beach last month.

Council was burdened with the cost to retrieve and dispose of the juvenile humpback whale that drowned after becoming entangled in a shark net off Coledale on October 27.

In answer to a question on notice by Greens’ councillor Jess Whittaker at the last meeting of Council, it was revealed the NSW Department of Primary Industries failed to secure and recover the whale at sea, and it drifted onto rocks at Scarborough, where it became the responsibility of the land manager. 

Cr Whittaker says the responsibility for the incident rests squarely with the NSW Government’s shark netting program.

Cr Whittaker, who is a long-time advocate against shark nets, said the recovery of the whale placed an immense toll on council staff and caused a work health and safety issue.

“In addition to this, Wollongong ratepayers are now expected to pick up the $44,043 bill for something the NSW Government mismanaged. It is pretty unreasonable,” Cr Whittaker said.

The Ward 1 councillor lauded Council staff who cleaned up the mess despite being confronted by a dangerous operation. 

“The whale could have been handled much more safely at sea when it was first discovered floating in the net,” Cr Whittaker said. 

“Removing the animal from slippery rocks amongst the waves and other marine life, including great white sharks that had been attracted to the area made it a very challenging and dangerous operation. 

“There is a touch of irony that in the end, shark nets, which are supposed to keep swimmers safe, in fact made the areas less safe with the closure of beaches up and down the coast for the week. 

“There is strong evidence to suggest this happens on a smaller scale with bi-catch removed by contractors from shark nets, documented to have large bite marks in it when recovered from the nets.” 

The NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said the government was trialling new shark-mitigation technologies such as smart drum lines and drone surveillance. However, she said more time was needed to ensure the effectiveness of those methods before phasing out nets entirely.

Ms Moriarty said the government had already shortened the annual netting season and removed nets a month earlier last summer.

Council is seeking reimbursement of the retrieval cost from the NSW Government.

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