"Groups Decry Record Number of Whale Entanglements Off U.S. West Coast"

"Conservationists on Tuesday called for new safeguards for gray whales and humpbacks after a record number of the federally protected mammals got entangled in fishing gear in coastal waters off California, Oregon and Washington.

Figures from federal fisheries managers show 30 of the outsized mammals were reported entangled last year off the U.S. West coast, the largest number in at least the past 15 years, conservationists said. At least two whales died.

Twenty of the 30 were in coastal waters between central and southern California and involved at least a dozen humpbacks entangled in fishing gear, including lines from crab pots or traps."

Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters April 28, 2015.