Rescue teams free entangled gray whale off Palos Verdes coast

A team of experts worked to free an adult gray whale entangled in a gillnet off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes, near Trump National Golf Club last week.

NOAA Fisheries shared video of the April 9 rescue, which shows the moment when the last of the netting was pulled from the whale. After working for two hours, a shout of "It's off!" can be heard.

A group of whale watchers from shore spotted the whale and reported it on April 8. A team led by NOAA Fisheries responded and included the Marine Mammal Care Center, the Entangled Whale Response of Orange County, and Los Angeles County lifeguards.

The team reached the whale and used drones and underwater cameras to document the entanglement and found that the portion of the whale's tail called the peduncle was tightly wrapped in green gill netting.

The net had caught on a rock crab trap on the bottom, holding the whale in place. "The whale was anchored in place because of the trap about 100 feet down on the sea floor and was having difficulty coming to the surface to breathe," said Justin Greenman, Assistant California Stranding Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries' West Coast Region.

John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center said the whale would have died without NOAA and their team of experts.

"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," Warner said.

To report marine mammals in distress in LA County, call the MMCC Rescue Hotline at 1 (800) 39-WHALE.