--- description: Good Samaritan to the rescue title: Australian Fisherman Removes Fishing Line From Whale's Mouth image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Australia](/tag/australia/) ## Australia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Australian Fisherman Removes Fishing Line From Whale's Mouth by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2015 9:03 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2015 9:03 PM CUT An Australian fisherman says he had a close encounter with a whale when it apparently came looking for help. Ivan Iskenderian was fishing with some friends in Middle Harbour, Sydney, when he spotted a whale in trouble swimming next to his boat, according to [Seven Network](https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/29245783/first-on-7-whales-clever-nudge-to-get-bag-removed/ "undefined"), an Australian television network. “It was lifting its head up and it had a bit of plastic bag and some fishing line on its head,” Iskenderian told the network. Iskenderian said the whale just swam up next to him and his friends. “I sorta just reached out, (the whale) sorta wanted me to grab… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/australian-fisherman-helps-remove-plastic-bag-fishing-line-whales-mouth-n408556?cid=par-time-article%5F20150812 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3995202/fisherman-whale-fishing-line/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3995202/fisherman-whale-fishing-line/"},"headline":"Australian Fisherman Removes Fishing Line From Whale's Mouth","datePublished":"2015-08-12T21:03:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:23:22.549Z","description":"Good Samaritan to the rescue","url":"https://time.com/3995202/fisherman-whale-fishing-line/","keywords":["Australia","Newsfeed","animals","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/australia/","name":"Australia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3995202/fisherman-whale-fishing-line/","name":"Australian Fisherman Removes Fishing Line From Whale's Mouth"}}]}] ```