Children Witness Whale’s Struggle for Life

“He was the first whale I ever saw--and he was drowning.”

That was how one Oak View boy remembered a joyous whale-watching trip that turned to tragedy.

The youngster was one of 28 Arnaz Elementary School students who on Tuesday witnessed the apparently futile battle of a California gray whale to free itself from a gill net off the Santa Barbara coast.

The children, members of a combined fourth- and fifth-grade class whose outing culminated a six-week study of marine life, watched helplessly as the large mammal repeatedly struggled to the surface for air, only to be dragged back into the sea by the weighted fishing net.

The whale, which also was entangled in a large, heavy rope, almost certainly drowned, officials said.

“We were only 10 or 20 feet away,” recalled Arnaz Principal Rich A. Kirby, who accompanied the children along with their teacher and some parents. “At their age--10, 11 and 12--kids try not to show emotion in front of their peers. Nobody cried, but they were visibly upset. They became very quiet.”

Kirby said the incident occurred about 11 a.m., shortly after the Condor, the boat carrying the group, turned back toward Santa Barbara Harbor after searching without success for whales for nearly two hours.

“We’d spotted some dolphins and other things of interest, but on the whole the children were disappointed because there weren’t any whales,” Kirby said Wednesday. “But then the captain yelled, ‘I see one!’ and everybody rushed to that side of the boat.

“It was a gray whale, but we could see right away that it wasn’t acting normal. We got as close as we could, and we saw that there was a rope around his head, near the air hole.

“He kept coming straight up out of the water, standing on end. He was laboring to get air. Then we saw the net that was wrapped around his tail.”

Kirby said the Condor circled the embattled whale for 20 to 30 minutes while crew members, urged on by the children, tried to free it with gaffing hooks. “But he was wrapped too tight. The only way you could have helped him would have been to dive deep into the water, and you’d need a helmet to do that.”

Jim West, an employee at Santa Barbara’s Sea Landing, where the Condor is docked, said the boat’s captain, Ron Hart, radioed for help, giving the distressed whale’s location, less than a mile off Arroyo Burro Beach.

Six boats and two helicopters searched in vain for the whale until giving up about 5 p.m., said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for the safety of gray whales and other endangered marine life.

“We presume the whale drowned,” Cordaro said.

At Arnaz School Wednesday, the children prevailed upon Kirby to make one last call to Santa Barbara. “As of lunchtime, they hadn’t found a thing,” Kirby said.

Many of the youngsters were still shaken by what they had seen, he said, adding that their teacher, Charlene Norton, had done her best to console them.

Fred Benko, the Condor’s owner, said he was on the dock when the Oak View group returned. “Except for the little fellow who remarked about this being his first whale, nobody said much,” Benko said. “If I had to describe the kids’ condition, I’d say they were bummed out.”

Benko estimated that the whale drowned only 200 to 300 yards offshore. “Three or four whales get caught in gill nets and drown near here every year,” he said. “Fishermen put the nets out to catch halibut and sea bass, mainly. It’s perfectly legal, but it’s a pity it has to happen.”

Cordaro said fishermen whose gill nets trap whales are subject to stiff fines. “If we find the net, we’ll check the registration number and go after the owner,” he said. He added that it is illegal to use such nets within a mile of shore in some parts of California.

Whales now passing along the coast are returning to Alaska after their annual visit to Baja California to reproduce, Cordaro said.