Whale calf killed by NSW shark net reignites calls to urgently remove them

SYDNEY (28 October 2025) – It has been confirmed today that a humpback whale calf has drowned after entanglement in a shark net off Coledale Beach, near Wollongong NSW. The dead whale was found still bound in the shark net, near Wombarra. 

The New South Wales Government returned shark nets to 51 locations along NSW beaches this September, when the humpback migration was still well underway.  

“The New South Wales shark nets have always been a risk to migrating humpback whales, so we’re not surprised this tragic, avoidable, and fatal entanglement has happened. A migrating whale calf is now dead and it’s because of the Government’s reluctance to remove the shark nets,” said Humane World for Animals marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck. 

“Shark nets do not benefit public safety. Scientists have determined there is no difference in the risk of a shark bite between a netted and a non-netted beach. All shark nets do is needlessly kill marine wildlife.  

“Scientists warn that the nets can even increase risks to the public because dead and dying animals caught in them attract sharks. With all the modern technology that is already in place at our beaches to prevent shark bites, it is time for the Minns Government to get the deadly nets out of the water.” 

The Minns Government had been planning a trial removal of shark nets from three locations in NSW this summer season but paused it, following the tragic loss of a surfer at Dee Why Beach. It was widely noted that there was a shark net in operation at that beach at the time of the incident.  

“Humane World for Animals asks the Minns Government to acknowledge that shark nets are ineffective for public safety and to reinstate plans to remove the nets as a matter of urgency,” said Mr Chlebeck. 

This death of a whale calf in New South Wales follows the entanglement of 15 humpback whales in Queensland shark nets during this migration season.