Famous Blue Whale Tangled in Netting Off Los Angeles Coast

LOS ANGELES, CA - Authorities were on the lookout today for a well-known blue whale seen entangled with fishing gear in recent days.

Delta, also known as Cadillac, was spotted Sunday off of Point Vicente in the Palos Verdes/San Pedro area, according to Justin Viezbicke, the California stranding network coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"We got reports on Sunday, but were not able to get out on the water," Viezbicke said. "The whale was pretty evasive with diving behavior, very challenging, so nobody was able to get on the whale."

The whale is known as Delta in the San Pedro area, but Cadillac in Monterey, Viezbicke said. It is well-known because of the unique shape of her tail, which resembles the fins on a Cadillac, Viezbicke said.

The first known sighting of the whale was in October 1987, according to happywhale.com. It was in the Gulf of the Farallones beyond San Francisco, the website reported.

"This is a whale we've been monitoring since July 28 up in Monterey" when she was first spotted tangled in fishing gear, Viezbicke said.

"She's probably the most known blue whale in all of California," Viezbicke said.

City News Service; Photo: D Ramey Logan via Wikipedia Commons