A day’s work for Natasha Funke and Luke McSweeney can involve taking rope off an 80-tonne giant of the sea.

The two PSA members are part of the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s (NPWS) Large Whale Disentanglement team, which, despite its name, can also be called out to rescue animals as diverse as seals, turtles and sea snakes.

They have been dragged for kilometres by animals and even charged at by a mother whale protecting her young.

The two are among the NPWS’s staff despatched whenever a sea animal is distressed. They can be caught in debris such as fishing nets, crab and lobster pots and drum lines. Ms Funke and Mr McSweeney are also called into action when animals stray into populated areas, such as the time a sea lion was found sauntering down the Manly Corso, a pedestrianised mall. Less glamorous work includes cleaning up dead whales washed onto beaches.

For entangled whales, the team uses small boats and an array of equipment, such as large buoys, to slow the animals down and tire them out. With the animals moving at a slower pace, and less likely to dive, crews can work at taking ropes, nets and lines off the animals.

The crews use special blades that cut the lines without injuring the animals. The blades are attached to long poles to make the work less dangerous for the crews.

Ms Funke said much of their work also centres around keeping people away from the animals when they come close to beaches or enter Sydney Harbour. In one case, she had to stop people offering a dolphin a ham sandwich off Balmoral Beach on Sydney’s north shore.

Mr McSweeney, who has been with NPWS since the 1990s, said the team love their work, but would like to be better resourced to improve the balance between work on the field and the general administrative tasks staff are required to perform.

The two PSA members said while it would be tempting for people coming across an entangled whale to try and resolve the issue themselves, it is vital they instead call NPWS, as a distressed marine animal could injure or kill an untrained wannabe rescuer.

Mr McSweeney said the rescue work done by members is just part of the efforts NPWS staff do for the preservation of the state’s environment.

“Not many people realise we have among the state’s highest number of staff doing fire control work,” he said.

PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright, who filmed an interview with the two members for an upcoming PSA CPSU NSW YouTube episode, said the work done by staff such as Ms Funke and Mr McSweeney was vital for the state’s environment.

“Few of us would cram into an inflatable boat in surging seas and try and take a rope off an animal that weighs several tonnes,” he said. “We have members all over the state working in trying conditions to protect our environment.

“Whether it is untangling a whale, working in freezing alpine conditions or fighting out-of-control bushfires, you will find NPWS members on the frontline.

“These members prove that public service matters.”