One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Search Is On For Blue Whale Caught In Fishing Line
The blue whale might be the largest animal on the planet, but the ocean is much, much larger.
On Friday afternoon around 1 p.m., the 75-foot blue whale was spotted off in the waters between the Los Angeles Harbor and Catalina Island. Observers noticed it swimming in an unusual manner and eventually saw it had a 300-foot fishing line and netting somehow stuck on it. "This whale was staying right up on the surface and just swimming real gentle," Captain Dan Salas, who was one of the first to spot the animal, told ABC 7. "So, we feel that the whale knows that it has a line on it."
WHALE RESCUE: Coast Guard says NOAA is sending team to untangle the blue whale http://t.co/uZ4lAQE8vs pic.twitter.com/FFQy68fvZB
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 4, 2015
"Hopefully, the whale understood that help was on the way," the captain added. Salas, who is with Harbor Breeze Cruises, told KTLA that he believes a crab trap was attached to the line.
Salas and his crew attached a red buoy in order to make tracking the whale easier for rescuer. However, the animal disappeared late Friday night as it got dark, and hasn't been spotted since. Officials are hoping either boaters or pilots will spot the whale this weekend.
"Stay away from the whale," Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue told the L.A. Times. If one were to spot the whale. Instead, keep a distance of at least 1,000 feet and call the Coast Guard or (877) SOS-WHALE.
Wallerstein this is the best animal his group has ever attempted to rescue. Last month, they were concerned about a young gray whale that got stranded in Marina Del Rey.
Sponsored message
The blue whale is the largest animal to have ever existed on earth, and individuals can grow up to 100 feet long and weigh 200 tons. They are considered an endangered species.
LA Sheriff's deputies in a patrol helicopter and raptor boat are helping in the search and rescue for an approximately...
Posted by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Saturday, September 5, 2015
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
