A huge search is underway to find three entangled whales spotted off the NSW mid-north coast.
A humpback calf was seen tangled with up to five white buoys trailing behind it off Point Plomer, north of Port Macquarie on Sunday afternoon.
Further south, an adult whale was seen off Forster with ropes wrapped around its body with another adult humpback spotted dragging a white buoy off Crescent Head.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife have called for members of the public on any coastal headlands or on water vessels to be on the lookout for the three whales.
"The timing and locations have proved too difficult for us to mount any sort of effective disentanglement," NPWS spokeswoman Susan Crocetti said in a statement.
More than 30,000 whales are estimated to pass along the NSW coastline as they head to warmer waters during their annual migration.
So far this migration season eight entangled whales have been spotted.
