San Diego

Coast Guard and Sea World personnel late Thursday helped free a California gray whale which had entangled itself off the northern San Diego coast in a fishing net, a predicament that could have caused the animal to drown because it breathes air.

A Navy helicopter spotted the trapped whale and alerted the Coast Guard, which in turn asked for help from Sea World and the local National Marine Fishery Service, the federal bureau which oversees the safety of marine mammals.

The rescue team, trying not to frighten the immobile 16-foot whale, approached on a small rubber boat, said Sea World spokeswoman Jackie Hill.

“They were able to cut the net away from the whale’s head and pectoral fins, but it was entangled all over,” Hill said. “They were only able to get part of it away from the tail fluke area before the whale swam away. How much was left around it is difficult to say.”