Whale rescued in Manhattan Beach
It began with a search for an injured sea lion and ended in a whale rescue.
Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue, was searching for a sea lion with a wound from a gill net Thursday when Baywatch Redondo called about a whale with a rope line trailing from its fluke.
When he and his crew arrived on the scene, Wallerstein said the young, 20-foot gray whale’s tail was tightly entangled in a rope line, with about ten feet of line trailing on both sides of it. Wallerstein also said that the whale was close to shore.
“We wasted no time and began our approach to attempt to free the whale,” he said.
The line was wrapped so tightly around the fluke that it took several failed attempts before rescuers were able to release it. Wallerstein snagged the trailing line and pulled his Zodiac closer to the whale. As Wallerstein held the line, his partner was able to cut the whale loose.
“We’re lucky we have the ability and opportunity to do it,” Wallerstein said, “because it’s a really dangerous task. One slip of a whale’s tail and it could cause injury.”
Wallerstein has not yet found the sea lion he was looking for this morning. He said that although sea lion rescues are more common in the South Bay than whales, this is the second time he has rescued a whale this year. In March, Wallerstein assisted in the rescue of a whale similarly trailing a rope line from its fluke off the coast of Palos Verdes.
When whales swim through fishing nets or crab lines, they can become partially entangled in the line and drag it with them. Walletstein said that even when local efforts are made regulating where fishing nets can be dropped, sometimes whales swim in from international waters trailing rope lines.
“We’re doing the best we can locally,” Wallerstein said.
Although the line was removed from the whale’s fluke, Wallerstein is still concerned about its health. The whale appears emaciated. This could have been caused by the line, which was tight enough to cut off circulation to the whale’s tail or cause an infection that would keep the whale from eating.
Because the full extent of the whale’s health condition is unknown, Wallerstein said he cannot be certain if the whale’s emaciation is related to the line that was wrapped around its tail. However, Wallerstein thinks the whale has a better chance of improving its health now that it has been cut loose.
Wallerstein said that Marine Animal Rescue and the L.A. County Lifeguards will continue monitoring the whale’s condition while it remains in the area.
“If it’s spotted from anywhere in L.A. County, we’ll hear about it,” Wallerstein said.