Officials looking for entangled blue whale off California coast

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Sat Sep 5, 2015 2:28pm EDT
Related: U.S., Environment

Officials looking for entangled blue whale off California coast

By Katie Reilly


Officials on Saturday were trying to locate a blue whale entangled in a fishing line off the southern California coast after efforts to free it failed on Friday.

The whale, which was first seen by a cruise ship off the coast of the upscale seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes, was last spotted Friday in the channel between Los Angeles Harbor and Catalina Island, said Jim Milbury, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rancho Palos Verdes is about 25 miles (40 km) from Catalina Island.

Milbury said the NOAA alerted whale-watching and recreational boats to look for the whale on Saturday and asked them to notify the U.S. Coast Guard or NOAA if they spot it.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/05/us-usa-whale-california-idUSKCN0R50T920150905

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Thanks Judi, I have been following this story.

All we can do is hope for the best.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Sure hope they can help. This whale shouldn't have to be a victim, too. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

3. Boaters' help sought in search for blue whale tangled in net off Palos Verdes coast

Boaters' help sought in search for blue whale tangled in net off Palos Verdes coast


[font size=1]
Rescuers try to free a blue whale that got tangled up in hundreds of feet of line off the coast of Palos Verdes.

KABC
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By ABC7.com staff
Sunday, September 06, 2015 01:22PM

PALOS VERDES, Calif. (KABC) --

Federal marine officials searching for a blue whale entangled in hundreds of feet of fishing line hope boaters and pilots out on the water and air this Labor Day weekend will spot it and call the U.S. Coast Guard.

The whale was towing a 200-foot line with an attached buoy that may be from a crab pot, said Peter Wallerstein, president of the nonprofit group Marine Animal Rescue.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Coast Guard rescue crews launched their search at daybreak Saturday, but the whale was nowhere to be found. Crews have specially designed knives and tools to cut that netting away and free the mammal.

Wallerstein said that while rescuers have untangled smaller gray whales caught in fishing nets, it was the first time anyone in California has seen an entangled blue whale and rescuers want to proceed cautiously.

More:
http://abc7.com/news/boaters-help-sought-in-search-for-blue-whale-tangled-in-net/972171/

[Judi Lynn]

4. Blue whale entangled in fishing line believed near Mexico

Blue whale entangled in fishing line believed near Mexico
Sep 7, 4:53 PM EDT

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) -- A boat off the coast of Mexico has apparently spotted the blue whale that rescuers first saw entangled in hundreds of feet of fishing line near Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday that a blue whale trailing line and a red buoy was seen around 10:30 a.m. about 18 miles southwest of the Coronado Islands.

Those Islands are just off Tijuana and more than 100 miles from where the whale was last seen Friday.

Jim Milbury, the spokesman for the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that U.S. rescuers cannot work those waters but they have been in contact with Mexican counterparts.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TANGLED_WHALE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-09-07-16-53-13

[Judi Lynn]

5. Buoy not tracking elusive blue whale tangled in fishing line

Buoy not tracking elusive blue whale tangled in fishing line

Updated 4:13 pm, Wednesday, September 9, 2015

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marine rescuers have again lost a blue whale last seen dragging fishing line off Mexico's Pacific coast — and the buoy they fastened to the line can't track its movements.

Rescuers couldn't free the 80-foot whale first spotted Friday off Los Angeles. With darkness falling, they attached a bright red buoy, hoping that would help them find it again.

But there has only been one sighting since — on Monday, off northern Baja California, more than 100 miles south of Los Angeles.

Jim Milbury of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the U.S. rescue team didn't attach a tracking buoy because those weigh about 50 pounds, adding to the whale's burden.

http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Buoy-not-tracking-elusive-blue-whale-tangled-in-6493858.php