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Los Angeles TimesGray whale tangled in Dana Point Harbor is freed
The animal, caught in a tangle of fishing nets and other gear, is cut free by rescuers and makes for the open ocean.
By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
May 13, 2010
It was looking pretty grim Wednesday for the gray whale floating listlessly in the shallow waters of Dana Point Harbor.
Experts said the whale looked emaciated and old, and some observers worried that the roughly 35-foot, 30-ton creature's days were numbered.But as news choppers churned overhead and a growing number of spectators watched from shore, the distressed whale's fortunes appeared to change.
It took about four hours for a team of marine animal rescue workers to remove the mesh rope knotted around the whale's head and tail, said Tim Sullivan of the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.
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A crew trained in disentangling marine animals from nets arrived at the harbor Wednesday. The team, with members from Sea World in San Diego, the Ocean Institute and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, had never tried to rescue a whale.
Barry Curtis, who was on one of the boats, said he caressed the animal and spoke soothingly to it as other workers used a long pole with a sickle-shaped blade to remove the nets. Curtis said the whale appeared young, not old as marine biologists had first thought.
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