Crabbers: Don't blame us for Monterey Bay entangled whales
A commercial crabber said nothing can be done to prevent another humpback whale from being caught in crabpot lines like the two that became entangled last week and were found near the Monterey Bay.
Commercial crabbing season runs from November-June. It's been a good April and May for crabbers, which means more crabpots are out in the bay.
Moss Landing crabber Steve Mills said there's no regulation dictating where they can drop crabpots, and each boat has a number of assigned traps that are regulated by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
VIDEO: Humpback whales and crabpots in the Monterey Bay
Marine mammal experts said the humpback migration from Mexico to Central California began a few weeks early this year.
Mills said 175,000 traps are allowed along California's coast during crabbing season, which means the chance that a whale will become ensnared is probable.
"Guys are making money and so they're leaving their gear out," Mills said. "There's so many humpback whales, there's so many traps, do the numbers," he said.
Whale Entanglement Team leader Pieter Folkens said rescuers determined that the first distressed whale became ensnared with a crabpot in Crescent City, Calif. and swam all the way down to Monterey before it was found and rescued.
While whale entanglements are unfortunate, Mills said nothing can be done to prevent it, and fishermen face enough regulations already.
"Every season is different. We did not see this last year," he said.
Last week, two humpback whales were found tangled with 300-pound crab traps and thick rope.
The larger of the two whales was in bad shape when whale watchers found it. Blue steal rope was wrapped around its 45-foot-long upper body three times and had damaged one of its flippers. A Whale Entanglement Team was unable to find the larger whale this week, and Folkens said the humpback has likely since drowned and died.
Marine Life Studies researcher Peggy Stap found the first, smaller distressed whale, and she stayed out on a boat trying to find the larger whale until sunset Friday.
"Every whale is important," Stap said.
Rescuers plan to cut rope that's still wrapped around the smaller whale's tail on Thursday, when its expected to swim into calmer water near Morro Bay.