Rescuers search for gray whale caught in massive net off California coast

Drones capture aerial footage of a gray whale entangled in a fishing net

Rescuers are searching for a nine-metre gray whale last spotted off the coast of northern California with its tail entangled in a massive fishing net.

The whale was last seen on Tuesday near San Francisco swimming north as part of gray whales' annual migration from Mexico to Alaska.

Rescue team managed to reach the animal but were unable to cut the net because the whale became aggressive.

Attempts were made to disentangle the whale when it was first spotted off Laguna Beach last month. While rescuers were unable to cut the net they were able to attach a satellite tag to it to track the whale and two buoys to make it easier to spot the animal.

But rescue crews say the tracker is no longer attached.

If the rescue team spots the whale again, they will attempt to cut the net or at least attach another satellite tag.

Kathi George, director of cetacean conservation biology at the Marine Mammal Center, said: "Our goal is to retrieve the gear that’s on the whale, so we can learn more about the entanglement and how it happened so, we could use that to inform risk reduction efforts.”

Every spring, gray whales migrate 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from birthing waters off Baja California, Mexico to feeding grounds in the Arctic.

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