Another Whale Has Brush With Death in Gill Net

A 30-foot gray whale managed to free itself after becoming entangled in a fishing net for several hours about 1 1/2 miles off Seal Beach early Monday, authorities said.

It was the second time in less than a week that a gray whale had gotten tangled in a fishing net, a marine conservation spokesman said, and prompted growing concern for the safety of the protected species as the animals make their annual 12,000-mile round-trip coastal swim from the Bering Sea to the warm waters of Baja California.

The snared whale was first spotted at about 6:30 a.m. by the crew of an oil rig boat, who notified Long Beach lifeguard officials. Lifeguards dispatched a three-man rescue boat, which was followed by four volunteers from environmental groups that participate in whale rescue efforts, authorities said.

Struggling for Freedom

Long Beach lifeguard Walt Halverson said that when he jumped into the water to help the animal, it began rolling over in the net, struggling to get free. Before anyone could get close enough to help it, the whale began swimming toward shore in the loosening net.

The whale continued to struggle until the net finally slid off about 10:30 a.m., Halverson said. When it neared shore, the whale turned and began swimming back out to sea, with lifeguards and the whale rescue group close behind, trying to determine if the huge mammal had been injured.

“It didn’t appear to have any serious damage,” Halverson said. “There was no bleeding.”

He said both parties followed the whale about seven miles to make sure it was safe.

Apparently a Gill Net

Halverson said the net in which the whale became entangled was not recovered, but that it appeared to have been a gill net, made of nylon and commonly used to catch a variety of fish.

On Saturday, a young gray whale became trapped in the same general area, according to Peter Wallerstein, director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Redondo Beach and one of four representatives of the whale rescue groups that assisted lifeguards Monday. He said a boater alerted his organization to the animal’s plight and the whale eventually was freed by rescuers who cut the net.

So far this year, Wallerstein said, there have been about eight incidents of gray whales tangled in gill nets. One whale died after it became wrapped in the nylon mesh near Los Angeles Harbor on March 17, he said.