VIDEO: Fishermen remove fishing line and plastic after 'whale came up for help'

Some Sydney fishermen have shared a video of a wonderful encounter they had with a Southern Right whale.

Michael Riggio, 17, and Ivan Iskenderian were heading home from a fishing trip when they saw the whale in Middle Harbour, north of the city.

They say that it came right up to the boat, almost as if it wanted them to do something.

While Riggio took photos, Ivan Iskenderian reached out and removed fishing line and plastic that had got caught on the whales head.

Photot via Michael Riggio/Instagram

“It was right on his lip… he seemed like he wanted it off,” Mr Iskenderian said.

Ron Kovacs was nearby on another boat and managed to capture the moment on video.

Writing on Facebook, he described what happened.

“He had a big scar on his back, and some fishing line and two plastic bags on his head,” Mr Kovacs said.

“He [kept] popping his head up so you could reach out and remove the garbage. He tried on my boat bit [it was] a bit harder as we are a bit higher – I made one grab for the bag but missed.

“He later came up to a trailer boat and presented his head as they removed the bag and [then] the fishing line. It was as if he wanted them to take it off.”