Rescuers have freed a badly tangled humpback whale off the California coast. It had been caught by fishing anchors that were dragging it to the ocean floor.
The state's whale-entanglement team, fishermen, academics, marine veterinarians and the U.S. Coast Guard all worked to unsnagged the whale yesterday, after nearly eight hours of cutting off fishing lines, buoys and anchor lines wrapped around the animal.
The animal was struggling to breathe. It had two fishing lines running through its mouth, at least six fishing buoys wrapped around a fin and fishing anchors pulling its tail straight down. Once freed, the whale circled the rescuers' boat before swimming away.
