Whale Stranding (Raw Footage)

This juvenile humpback stranded itself at the beach near my place so I went down to grab a few shots and see how the rescue attempts were progressing. More Info: The stranding occurred at Palm beach on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The whale is a juvenile humpback estimated to be between 15 - 20 tonnes in weight. It had beached itself a day earlier which means at this point things were getting desperate. There had already been a few rescue attempts earlier which had failed. This footage was shot on the high tide at approximately 5pm. In the footage you can see the whale flip onto it's dorsal side. This is dangerous for the whale as it's blowhole is covered and will not be able to breathe unless it's able to right itself. The cheers from the crowd are a reaction to the whale getting itself right side up again. The rescuers did not manage to free the whale on this occasion and departed at approximately 6:15pm. This made a few people upset and not long after a crowd broke through the exclusion zone and attempted to move the whale using people power. This was not successful either and those involved were reprehended by authorities for putting the whale in a worse position (allegedly). The whale stayed at the beach for another night which means it had been stranded for over 36 hours. Thankfully the rescue efforts the next morning were a success and the whale was returned to deeper waters. Experts on the scene were 'optimistic' about it's potential survival. To see footage of the release see here: http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/freedom-stranded-young-whale-freed-in-marathon-rescue-effort-at-palm-beach-now-swimming-well-but-rogue-rescuers-may-face-charges/story-fnj94idh-1226983713655 Connect with WAKALEO! Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmqLYV9TlG4L-F4bVWJQyDw?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WakaleoAnimalChannel?ref=br_tf Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wakaleo_Channel Thumbnail image credit: Image ID: anim1823, NOAA's Ark - Animals Collection Photographer: Dr. Mridula Srinivasan, NOAA/NMFS/OST/AMD Created by Adam Cox https://twitter.com/AdamCox17