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Harbor Breeze, a tour operator in Southern California, reported seeing a humpback whale off Point Fermin near Long Beach tangled in fishing nets on Thursday. The entanglement restricted the whale’s movement and feeding abilities. Wildlife experts tried but failed to free it due to poor conditions. NOAA data shows that there were 76 large whales entangled along U.S coasts in 2025, with California accounting for 27.6% of these cases.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On January 13, Harbor Breeze, an excursion operator offering whale-watching tours in Southern California locations like Long Beach, San Pedro, and Santa Monica, reported spotting a humpback whale entangled in fishing nets off Point Fermin. The whale appeared to have ropes wrapped around its body, restricting movement of its pectoral fins and impeding its ability to feed and surface for air. A team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center attempted to free the whale but were thwarted by challenging water conditions. Wildlife experts also tried attaching a satellite tracking tag to monitor the entangled whale's movements but were unable to do so due to similar difficult circumstances. The incident highlights the dangers of commercial fishing gear in harming marine life, emphasizing the urgent need for effective measures to mitigate such threats.
Written for “Whale Entangled In Fishing Gear” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.30, but all 1 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 59121: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-06
“Today on our 12:00pm Whale Watch we witnessed a struggling Humpback Whale that was entangled in fishing nets off Point Fermin,” Harbor Breeze captioned in a video.
asserted
Breeze → witness → video
“Because of this entanglement, this whale is not able to move freely, cannot feed, and can even have trouble getting to the surface to breathe.
asserted
whale → move → surface
While all littering in the ocean is dangerous, Commercial fishing gear is absolutely one of the most common occurrences for killing marine life,” they further said.
asserted
they → kill → life
Harbor Breeze is an excursion operator that offers whale-watching tours and other ocean events out of Southern California such as in Long Beach, San Pedro, Santa Monica, etc.
asserted
that → offer → Beach
Based on the video, the net appeared to be wrapped around the middle of the whale’s body, restricting movement of its pectoral fins.
asserted
net → base → fins
Wildlife experts attempted to free the whale from the net but were unable to do so due to difficult water conditions.
asserted
experts → attempt → conditions
“The team made multiple attempts to reach the trailing gear, but the whale’s behavior and water and weather conditions hampered their efforts.
asserted
behavior → make → efforts
They also attempted to put on a satellite tracking tag, but similarly, conditions hampered their efforts,” a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center biologist named Sarah Mesnick told KTLA.
asserted
Oceanic → attempt → KTLA
Before the sighting on Thursday, the same whale was spotted without a net off the coast of Humboldt County on August 22 and near San Luis Obispo on September 20.
asserted
whale → spot → September
This comes as a NOAA report confirmed that there were 76 entangled –– in which 65 were humpback –– large whales along U.S coasts in 2025.
asserted
65 → come → 2025
Of the 11 states reporting confirmed whale entanglements, California made up 27.6% of the total reports while Alaska accounted for 23.7%.
asserted
Alaska → report → %
Anyone who encounters a whale that is entangled can call NOAA at 877-SOS-WHALE or at 877-767-9425.
asserted
that → encounter → 9425
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