Panic, Then Tears, as Humans Save Beached Whale

What's This?

Image: Patrick Hamilton, AFP, Getty Images

By Jenni Ryall2014-07-10 01:19:29 UTC

When a whale gets stranded on an Australian beach — which isn't a rare occurrence — the public gets crazy emotional.

A young 8-metre (26-foot) beast was beached on a Gold Coast shore Tuesday night during its annual migration from Antarctica to the Great Barrier Reef.

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As Sea World Australia crews worked to save the humpback whale, which remained stuck on Queensland's Palm Beach for more than 36 hours, spectators went into overdrive to help.

Members of the public ran into the water to try and push the baby whale to freedom late at night.

Twitter also filled with messages wishing the beached whale well.

It took two days, but their support worked. Willy was free at last! (Cue tears.)

Local media got so excited, they started using exclamation marks.

"8.15AM: HE’S Free! The young whale stranded at Palm Beach since Tuesday night is now swimming out to deeper waters!" the Gold Coast Bulletin wrote in a live blog of the freedom mission.

As the whale swam off to try and find its pod, Australia breathed a deep sigh of relief. Boy, was that emotional.

Image: Patrick Hamilton, AFP, Getty Images

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Topics: australia, freedom, ocean, stranded, US & World, whale, World