Rescuers free an entangled humpback whale off Dana Point after a weeklong effort

After a weeklong effort, rescuers freed a humpback whale on Friday that had been entangled in rope off the coast of Southern California.

The whale was first s potted in distress near the South Bay with rope wrapped around both its left and right fluke blades, severely restricting its movement. The whale moved down the coastline to Orange County before settling near Dana Point for the last several days.

About the rescue

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries for short) worked with whale watching groups and other rescue agencies, going out onto the water to take photos and videos documenting the entanglement and determining how and where to cut the rope. The whale was easy for rescuers to keep tabs on, since the rope on the whale's flukes made it hard for it to dive deep.

"We were really lucky that this whale basically hung out in the same area for this entire week," said Justin Viezbicke, with NOAA Fisheries. "And pretty much every day, we've had the whale watch folks letting us know, 'Hey, the whale's here. We'll stay on it until you guys get out here to help out.'"

Viezbicke, who spoke to LAist on Friday while returning to shore from the successful rescue attempt, said saving the whale took so long because its behavior was skittish and evasive. He is the California coordinator for responding to marine mammals in distress or danger.

"We've had to be really patient and really take our time so that we could get in close proximity to get the video and the pictures and then make the cut," he said. "So it's been a really long process this week, for sure."

What ultimately worked

In the end, all the rescuers had to do was make one cut to the rope entangled around the humpback — the whale did the rest.

"The whale was breaching and was super surface active, and typically when they're doing those things, that can help and loosen things up," Viezbicke said. "You could see the gear getting looser and looser, and finally the gear just flew off. And it was kind of a surreal moment. I think everybody on the boat cheered. I might have gotten some goosebumps."

While the rescue took nearly a week, Viezbicke predicts that the whale will likely recover since rescuers got to it in time. He highlighted the effort on the part of many individuals that led to the successful rescue — not least of all the whale.

"The cool part about it is that, you know, we did some work, the whale did some work and it all worked out in the end," he said.