A young humpback whale is heading south after experts managed to cut away most of a shark control net that entangled it off the Gold Coast.
But the mammal still has some of the gear wound around its tail.
Experts from Sea World and the Queensland government's marine animal release team have spent two days in the rolling swell off Coolangatta trying to free the whale.
They removed some of the net on Wednesday. By late on Thursday afternoon "most" of it had been cut away.
"This has been a significant joint operation out at sea over two days involving multiple vessels and crews," the government's shark control program manager Michael Mikitis said.
"We did not give up and stayed with the moving whale throughout today while cutting away a lot of the remaining gear before nightfall."
Conservation groups have long been calling for the removal of shark control nets, especially during whale migration season, saying swimmers can be protected with less damaging tools such as drones.
There has been one whale entanglement so far this migration season.
Last year, six whales that became entangled were successfully released.
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