This humpback is one of over 40 whales that have been seen off the California coast this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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The sighting involving the marine mammal occurred during late afternoon, on Friday, November 20, off Dana Point, in Orange County, California.
On Friday, watchers from Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari spotted a humpback whale swimming through the waters and seemingly entangled. Reportedly, it was travelling slowly through shallow waters, at 3.5 knots per hour.
SeaWorld San Diego, the National Marine Fisheries Service and whale watching boats in San Diego have all been notified to be on the lookout for the whale, Anderson said. By Saturday, it was suggested that it may have reached San Diego, and then travelled even to Mexico. This way, a rescue mission couldn’t be dispatched, because it wasn’t clear exactly where exactly the marine mammal was headed. Although it doesn’t seem to have caught any fishing gear, it does have a buoy tangled around its tail, most probably by accident.
The whale was spotted too late in the day for a rescue team to attach a tracking buoy or attempt a disentanglement, boat operators said, and a search for the animal was to resume on Saturday. Humpback whales don’t travel in a straight line and have unpredictable travel patterns which makes it hard for rescuers to track them, according to Anderson. They have also asked the population to immediately contact Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari in case anyone spots the entangled humpback or other local experts that might help.
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Fishing gear is believed to kill thousands of whales, dolphins and porpoises annually.
