Race to free trapped whale

Animal welfare officers are struggling to free a 12-metre-long sperm whale trapped in a fishing net in rough seas off the coast of Calabria, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Friday.

It is thought that the animal has been trapped in the swordfish net for at least two days.

A police helicopter was drafted in to help with sightings of the whale on Friday but bad weather continued to scupper hopes of a rescue operation.

''The sperm whale is being constantly monitored by patrol boats belonging to police, harbour authorities and WWF experts, but force five seas are preventing us from intervening,'' the WWF said.

The environmental organisation added that the whale had become tangled in an illegal swordfish net, or driftnet - a vertical wall of net that floats hanging from the surface of the water.

''Swordfish nets have been banned for years but it they are still widely used in our waters because of confusion about the policy and the lack of diligent controls,'' WWF said, adding that turtles frequently fell victim to the nets in Italy.

The sperm whale, the world's biggest predator, inhabits most of the world's oceans but sightings in the Mediterranean have grown increasingly rare in recent years.

Last year scientists registered an increased number of pods off the coast of Sicily.

Sperm whales eat almost a tonne of squid a day, and will also feed on skate, octopus and other species of fish.