Entangled Blue Whale Spotted Off California Coast: Rescue Operations Underway

A massive rescue operation is expected to resume today off the California coast after a large Blue Whale was spotted entangled in a fishing line attached to a buoy. The whale has been spotted off the San Pedro coast, KTLA reports. Following the sighting of the entangled whale, a team of experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has responded to the call and has started operations to free the large mammal from the fishing line.

First reports of the entangled whale came in at around 2:45 p.m., local time on Friday. The entangled whale was first spotted by a group of people in a whale-watching boat. They quickly reached out to local marine expert Peter Wallerstein of the Marine Animal Rescue, who in turn notified NOAA officials about the trapped whale. Wallerstein was later picked up by NOAA officials from a dock as they made their way to rescue the whale.

The group of experts who were based out of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur, quickly reached the spot where the whale was found entangled. The group was transported using a Lifeguard division’s rescue boat. The exact location is around five nautical miles south of Point Fermin, an official from the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division confirmed. The location of the entangled blue whale was also later confirmed by several aerial news crews who managed to spot the whale. The whale was seen diving in and out of water periodically — a sign that it was in distress. Initial signs seemed to show that the whale was entangled in about 200 feet of fishing line attached to a small buoy. NOAA officials used a motorized raft to approach the mammal.

According to Fire Department Section Chief Erik Albertson, NOAA officials were still figuring out how to free the large mammal from the fishing line. Adding to the delay in rescue operations was the fact that the whale was frequently diving and resurfacing.

“They’re trying to figure out how to get to the whale and free the line that is hanging from it, in the short time that the whale surfaces, which is infrequently. The challenge is keeping everybody safe and keeping the whale safe.”

A few hours after the rescue operations began, officials had to suspend the effort due to “dangerous conditions,” that prevailed at sea. Using their Twitter account, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division issued a statement confirming that rescue operations would begin on Saturday after the whale’s relocation.

Due to dangerous conditions @MARescue has ceased rescue attempts for today. Rescue efforts will resume when the whale is relocated tomorrow

— LACoFD Lifeguards (@LACoLifeguards) September 5, 2015

Peter Wallerstein described the rescue operation.

“The seas were rough. It was hard to get to the whale, but we were able to attach a buoy to the whale. We didn’t do any cutting. The whale didn’t surface enough.”

It is not very common for whales — particularly blue whales — to get entangled in fishing lines. However, when it does happen, it is usually very distressful for the mammal and could result in its death.

[Photo via Twitter]