A whale entangled in a net is rescued off Rancho Palos Verdes. Video broadcast on NBC4.
Wildlife authorities freed a entangled gray whale Wednesday after it was caught in a net off the Southern California coast.
The Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked together to free the adult whale after weeks of “death and stranding.”
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WATCH HEREThe whale was first spotted April 8 near the coast of Palos Verdes Peninsula.
The next day, experts used aerial drones and underwater cameras to document the entanglement. According to a press release by NOAA, it found that the gillnet had snagged a rock crab trap, preventing the whale from swimming free.
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SIGN UP A gillnet is type of mesh fishing net designed to catch fish by their gills. Gillnet are usually found as a wall of netting.
“Whales are unable to see these fishing nets, which wrap around their bodies and slice into them like barbed wire. Our marine mammals face existential challenges like these every day,” said John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center. “But what enables us to more effectively address these issues is our close and on-going relationship with NOAA. We could not send our people out alone to rescue these whales. We need the expertise and experience of NOAA to ensure a safe collaboration.”
Crews freed the whale in around two hours.
NOAA can be reached at 866-767-6114 to report an injured, dead, or stranded marine mammal. To report an entangled animal, call 877-767-9425 instead.
