Search for entangled baby whale off Northern California
Rope and buoy are a risk, experts say, but can be removed
Marine mammal experts are asking the public to help locate a gray whale calf entangled in fishing gear that is believed to be swimming through Monterey Bay or ocean waters farther north.
The animal, which is about 20 feet long, was first spotted off Dana Point, in Orange County, on April 19. It was swimming next to its mother, as part of the huge migration gray whales make every year from lagoons in Baja California to feeding grounds in Alaska.
The whale had a fishing line entangled in its mouth, with a buoy trailing behind. If the animal can be relocated, rescue crews in a small inflatable boat will attempt to cut the gear off the animal, said Karen Grimmer, resource protection coordinator for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Experts from the Marine Mammal Center, Long Marine Lab, Moss Landing Marine Labs, NOAA and other organizations have cut other whales free in waters off Northern California in recent years, she said. After they locate an entangled whale, they use long carbon-fiber poles with a blade on the end to cut ropes or other gear.
“Sometimes the whale can throw the gear off,” Grimmer said. “Other times we can cut all of the gear or most of the gear off. Most of the time that occurs. The third scenario is that we don’t see the whale again and it dies. It’s a very dedicated group of very passionate people who put their lives at risk. They take it very seriously. They are often successful.”
Phil Kreis spotted the animal last Tuesday off Malibu. He videotaped it with a drone.
“I was bummed out. I felt bad for it,” said Kreis, a real estate agent in Westlake Village, near the Los Angeles-Ventura county border. “I’m an animal lover. It was just painful to see. When I heard they were trying to save it, it gave me some hope.”
A rescue team from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach and NOAA tried to cut the animal free last week. But when they sailed alongside it, its mother protectively blocked their access, and after several hours, they gave up. Whale experts are hopeful the pair will be spotted again as they head north.
Last year, 17 whales entangled in commercial fishing gear were spotted off Washington, Oregon and California, according to NOAA. The most common type were humpbacks, although gray whales, blue whales and fin whales also have been entangled. Although gray whales, which now number about 20,000 off the West Coast, have rebounded after the end of whale hunting 50 years ago and are no longer endangered, removing the gear is key for the baby whale’s prospects, Grimmer said.
“It can interfere with its natural behavior, its feeding. It could get entangled on something else. It could pick up additional gear.”
Anyone who sees the whale, either on a whale watching tour, from a fishing boat or other craft, is asked to note its position and call the NOAA hotline at 877-767-9425 so a rescue crew can be sent out.
