Whale entanglement team needs bigger boat, rescues calls increasing

A National Marine Fisheries report showed the number of whales tangled in some sort of fishing equipment has been increasing rapidly over the last year on the West Coast.

With those numbers on the rise, it also means the need for local rescue groups is growing.

NewsChannel 5 found out those rescuers don’t have the equipment they need to help whales in distress.

There have been 17 whale entanglements along California’s coast so far this year, and seven of those happened in the Monterey Bay.

Researchers at Moss Landing Harbor said they could save a lot more whales if they had a bigger boat. Peggy Stap is the executive director of Marine Life Studies and said, “We’ve gone out on many of the calls but we just have this small boat and so it takes awhile to get all this equipment on and dash out.”

Stap said timing is crucial when a whale is trapped. She said volunteers rely on reports of entangled whales from whale watching boats. The problem is those boats don’t always stay with the whale until they show up.

“We lose that whale with no eyes on it and its like looking for a little tiny needle in a humongous hay stack,” said Stap.

Right now the whale entanglement team stores all its rescue equipment in its van because there isn’t enough room on its boat. The team’s boat is only 19 feet long and when all rescue gear is on deck, there is hardly room for the volunteers.

Ideally the team needs a 40-foot boat, which could cost around $200,000. Stap said it’s have secured two anonymous donors who will match donations up to $150,000. The team is asking the public to help with the rest.

“Every donation counts just give up a couple cups of coffee a month and send us some money,” said Stap.

The team members are all volunteers, and pay for their own fuel and other expenses to rescue whales in trouble, but calls for help aren’t slowing down.

Stap said they believe they could have rescued four entangled whales back in February if they would’ve had a bigger boat to hold their gear.

If you’d like to donate towards the whale entanglement team go to: http://www.WhaleEntanglementTeam.org

The team asks the public to make checks out to Marine Life Studies with “Dollar for Dollar Match” in the memo and mail to:

Marine Life Studies

PO Box 163, Moss Landing, CA 95039

**Entanglement footage taken under MMHRSP permit #932-1905