Entangled Blue Whale Seen Heading South Toward San Diego Waters

San Diego County, CA — Teams attempting to free a blue whale that became entangled in crab-trap lines off the coast of Dana Point Monday said the mammal was last seen heading south toward the waters off San Diego County.

Captain Dave's Whale Watching out of Dana Point was the first to spot the entangled whale Monday, according to Michael Milstein, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The crew and others worked for nine hours Monday in an effort to free the 70- to 80-foot whale, but ultimately lost sight of it around 7 p.m. Monday.

Three vessels searched for it two to three miles off shore, but were unable to locate it.

"The first step today is to try and find the whale again, and we are relying on folks out on the water to be our eyes and help locate it so that we can make another attempt to disentangle the animal," Milstein said in an interview.

The whale is entangled in Dungeness crab traps and lines that are connected to the floats, according to Gisele Anderson of Captain Dave's disentanglement team.

"The rescue team lost sight of the whale when it became too dark," Anderson said.

"It was a legal crab trap business and NOAA has identification numbers from the markers," Anderson added.

Monday, the disentanglement team from Captain Dave's made several attempts to cut off the ropes but were not able to do so without losing the buoys that were helping them locate the creature.

"It appears that the whale went through (the) trap and got the line caught in its mouth or pectoral flippers," Anderson said.

The line has stretched tight across the whale to its fluke, making it hard for the blue whale to swim, she said.

"The crab traps can weigh from 100 to 300 pounds, and that makes it hard for the animal to move," Anderson said. "In the beginning of the day we attached a NOAA telemetry buoy to the whale, and had no choice but to remove it."

Now, the only hope of finding the whale is measured by the crab trap lines that trail the whale.

"The whale watching boats are out there, looking, " Anderson said. "The whale was last seen heading on a south, southwest trajectory. Blue whales can go hundreds if not thousands of miles off shore."

According to Milstein, there were 61 whales reported entangled off the west coast in 2015.

Captain Dave's disentanglement group says the numbers are far greater.

"We estimate that 1,000 dolphins and whales are dying in nets everyday. This is the one we saw," Anderson said. "We want to make the most of this opportunity ... "

— Orange County Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.