Entangled gray whale rescued off coast of Rancho Palos Verdes
Whale trapped in net off California coast rescued
Crews rescued a gray whale that was stuck in a net off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes for days.
LOS ANGELES - A dramatic rescue off the California coast. An entangled gray whale, trapped 100 feet underwater, was freed in a life-saving mission involving drones, underwater cameras, and a team of experts.
What we know:
Right off the cliffs that encompass Terranea Resort and Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, a 25-foot gray whale struggled to breathe.
For a week and a half, the whale's tail was wrapped in green gill netting, which sliced into its blubber like barbed wire and caught in a rock crab trap anchored 100 ft down.
Marine mammal experts discovered the gray whale had dragged the trap along the sea floor from Newport Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes.
A whale watcher spotted the mammal while walking along the bluffs and called NOAA Fisheries.
Their local team raced out, untangled, and released the whale right off Terranea Resort.
"Saving this whale meant a lot to us, especially during all of this crisis on our shores with the domoic acid event," said John Warner CEO of Marine Mammal Care Center.
Impact of Domoic Acid
Dig deeper:
A gray whale that was stranded back in January, is now the first whale in the world known to die from domoic acid, lab results recently confirmed.
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Algae threatens SoCal fishing season
Southern California's ocean fishing season has begun, but fishermen are concerned over the algal bloom that's hurting marine life.
Domoic acid (DA) toxicity is caused by ocean blooms of algae called Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). The toxin causes neurological issues in seabirds and mammals that eat anchovies, sardines, and crustaceans that have eaten the toxic algae. The toxin causes severe neurological symptoms, including tremors, seizures, stillbirths, and even violence, according to the International Bird Rescue.
The condition is treatable, but sick animals are flooding marine mammal care centers up and down the California coast.
The toxin is killing birds, dolphins, sea lions, and turtles.
To complicate the crisis, health experts say the symptoms can resemble those caused by bird flu and protozoal encephalitis.