Sept. 04--A blue whale has been spotted off Point Fermin in San Pedro and appears to have become entangled in fishing line, marine animal rescue officials said.
The mammal appears to be trapped about eight miles from Point Fermin, between San Pedro and Catalina Island, officials said. The whale was reportedly trailing at least 200 feet of line, possibly with a crab pot on the end of it.
Dan Salas, a captain with Harbor Breeze Cruises, said one of the company's boats spotted the animal during an afternoon whale-watching trip.
"Nothing was unusual until the captain got close and he immediately noticed that the whale was in distress," Salas said. The whale is reported to be about 75 feet long. The captain saw about 400 feet of line attached to the whale's tail, and a buoy hanging off the end, Salas said.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine mammal rescue team is en route.
"We're still stuck in traffic on the 405," said Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue, a company that is authorized by the NOAA and Los Angeles County to perform marine rescues.
Los Angeles County Fire lifeguard units are standing by at Point Fermin to tow out the rescue vessels, according to Salas and Wallerstein, and Coast Guard officials have issued an alert for mariners to stay 1.5 miles away from the animal. A rescue attempt is expected within the hour.
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The largest animals on Earth, blue whales can grow to more than 100 feet long and weigh 150 tons. About a quarter of the estimated worldwide population of 10,000 congregate in the waters off the West Coast.
A record number of West Coast whales became entangled in crabbing gear in 2014, according to a report released earlier this year. At least 30 whales -- most of them grays and humpacks -- were entangled in vertical lines between surface buoys and crab traps on the ocean floor last year, nearly twice as many as reported the year before, according to the NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.
Experts expect 2015 to be another record-breaker: as of April, 25 whales had already been reported off the coast of California.
"You've got a horrible situation because you've got these innocent fishermen who are just really trying to do their job, and then you've got these innocent whales, and they just happen to overlap," said Diane Alps, programs coordinator for the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
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UPDATES
4:30 p.m.: This article has been updated to include additional background and comments from Alps.
This article was originally published at 4:10 p.m.
