UpdatedSun, May 2, 2021 at 7:00 am PT
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Call the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at 877-767-9425 if you spot the entangled whale. (Courtney Teague/Patch)
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Officials are asking Northern California residents to keep an eye out for a months-old gray whale that became entangled in fishing gear and was recently spotted off of the Laguna Beach coast, The Mercury News reported.
The calf may be swimming in Monterey Bay or in waters farther north after it was seen in Malibu, the paper reported. Today was a sad day, said Phil Kreis, who spotted and videotaped the entangled baby whale. The calf and its mother were quickly moving northward, he said.
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Call the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at 877-767-9425 if you spot the entangled whale. (Courtney Teague/Patch)
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA Officials are asking residents of the Monterey Bay area and Northern California to keep an eye out for a months-old gray whale that became entangled in fishing gear, The Mercury News reported.
The calf may be swimming in Monterey Bay or in waters farther north after it was first seen in Malibu, the paper reported. Today was a sad day, said Phil Kreis, who spotted and videotaped the entangled baby whale. The calf and its mother were quickly moving northward, he said.
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The plight of an entangled baby whale off Orange County has sparked an urgent multi-agency rescue effort, highlighting again the perils that ocean debris poses to marine mammals and other wildlife.
The baby gray whale has a rope around its mouth and trailing in the water behind it. That’s prompted a team of ocean animal experts from Dana Point to Monterey to closely follow the whale, hoping to get close enough to extricate it.
As the calf grows, the rope could tighten around it, potentially tearing off skin or breaking limbs. The consequences could be deadly.
“Unfortunately, with most of these entanglements, if the whale can’t get it off and we can’t get it off,” said Justin Viezbicke, California Stranding Network coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, “they ultimately lead up to death.”