California rescuers on lookout for tangled whale

Dana Point - The US National Marine Fisheries Service has asked all boat enthusiasts to be on the lookout for a gray whale tangled in an unknown material heading north along Southern California's coast.

Capt Frank Brennan was leading a whale-watching tour when he spotted the whale with what looks like some kind of metal frame around its head about 3.2km off Dana Point.

"The whale was being evasive because there were so many boats around it," Brennan told the Orange County Register.

He saw it a second time later in the day off Laguna Beach.

Whales caught in materials such as fishing line or crabbing gear can starve or die from infected wounds.

Figures released last month showed a record number of whales getting caught in crabbing gear off the US West Coast. The Centre for Biological Diversity cited 71 cases of whales caught in fishing lines off California, Oregon and Washington last year. It was the highest annual total for the region since record-keeping began in 1982.