LAGUNA BEACH : Whale Caught in Net Washes Ashore
Apparently killed by a gill net, an 18-foot gray whale was found washed ashore near Victoria Beach on Friday.
Authorities said the whale, which is on the federal endangered species list, was entangled in the controversial fish netting, which some environmentalists are working to outlaw.
“It probably carried the net for a long distance before it got too tired to surface and just suffocated,” said Tom Lewis, an employee of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. “It was obviously a gill net.”
Lewis said the yearling whale had been dead for about two weeks before it was spotted Thursday floating about a mile offshore by a British Petroleum airplane that was looking for oil slicks.
He estimated that 10 to 15 whales die every year off the Southern California coastline from encounters with gill nets, tightly woven nets designed to snag fish around the gills. Friday’s finding was the first such incident this year, Lewis added.
A spokeswoman for the Laguna Beach Police Department said city workers will attempt to quickly bury the mammal just off the beach.
“I’m worried about it going out with the tide and coming back somewhere a lot less accessible,” said Keith Hall, an animal control officer with the department. “And it is a health hazard” in its decomposing state.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
