Wildlife officials have raised concerns after a stressed humpback whale trapped in a heavy commercial fishing net was seen off the coast of Southern California.
The whale was seen around the Palos Verdes area by passengers on a Harbor Breeze whale watching tour last Thursday.
“Today on our 12:00pm Whale Watch we witnessed a struggling Humpback Whale that was entangled in fishing nets off Point Fermin,” Harbor Breeze captioned in a video.
“Because of this entanglement, this whale is not able to move freely, cannot feed, and can even have trouble getting to the surface to breathe. While all littering in the ocean is dangerous, Commercial fishing gear is absolutely one of the most common occurrences for killing marine life,” they further said.
Harbor Breeze is an excursion operator that offers whale-watching tours and other ocean events out of Southern California such as in Long Beach, San Pedro, Santa Monica, etc.
Based on the video, the net appeared to be wrapped around the middle of the whale’s body, restricting movement of its pectoral fins.
Wildlife experts attempted to free the whale from the net but were unable to do so due to difficult water conditions.
“The team made multiple attempts to reach the trailing gear, but the whale’s behavior and water and weather conditions hampered their efforts. They also attempted to put on a satellite tracking tag, but similarly, conditions hampered their efforts,” a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center biologist named Sarah Mesnick told KTLA.
Before the sighting on Thursday, the same whale was spotted without a net off the coast of Humboldt County on August 22 and near San Luis Obispo on September 20.
This comes as a NOAA report confirmed that there were 76 entangled –– in which 65 were humpback –– large whales along U.S coasts in 2025.
Of the 11 states reporting confirmed whale entanglements, California made up 27.6% of the total reports while Alaska accounted for 23.7%.
Anyone who encounters a whale that is entangled can call NOAA at 877-SOS-WHALE or at 877-767-9425.
