08/13/2026
The real story: A young gray whale, later named “Bart,” was found off Dana Point, California, dragging nearly 50 feet of discarded fishing netting — filled with dead sea animals it had accumulated for nearly a week. Rescuers spent seven hours freeing him. Source: NBC News / Los Angeles Times reporting.
A young gray whale was spotted off Dana Point, California, moving strangely, weighed down by something massive. When rescuers got close, they understood why: nearly 50 feet of discarded fishing netting, wrapped around his body, dragging behind him for what may have been nearly a week.
The net wasn’t empty. “We had a sea lion, we had several sharks… the whole ecosystem, you know, was in that netting,” rescuer Dave Anderson later said.
A team of wildlife experts spent seven grueling hours cutting through the tangle, following the whale — nicknamed Bart, after one of the boaters who stayed with him overnight — mile after mile out to sea as they worked.
“It was getting very frightening towards the end of the day because we were running out of time,” Anderson recalled.
Then, finally, a line snapped as the whale dove. When he surfaced again, he was free.
“He came right up to our boat,” Anderson said, “almost as if to say thank you.”
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