NOAA reports spike in whale entanglements off California coast, latest bad news in year of threats in and out of the ocean

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently reported a spike in entangled whales off California in 2024, leading scientists and marine mammal biologists to worry about how this year will go as winter fishing seasons get underway.

Already, sea creatures have been plagued in 2025 by deadly algae blooms, bacterial illnesses and shifts in food sources, as well as the always-present threats of fishing gear and ship strikes.

California’s 2025 commercial Dungeness crab season delayed to protect whales

Sperm whales Kiwi and Guava spotted off California coast

On top of that, the federal agency, which plays an important role in enforcement, investigation and ensuring compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, has seen budget and staffing cuts this year, and many of its ranks are currently furloughed as the federal government shutdown ticks on.

The shutdown is in its fourth week with Republican and Democratic lawmakers continuing their standoff over whether to tie an extension of a healthcare subsidy used by millions of Americans set to expire at the end of the year to a funding bill that would reopen the government. Meanwhile, thousands of government workers deemed non-essential are on furlough.

“When we think about the solution to end species endangerment and protect biodiversity, we need NOAA at all stages to have robust support to be able to do that,” Dave Bader, a marine biologist at the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles, said. “From the regulatory side, to the development side, to the enforcement side, all of those right now could use support and strengthening and we’re seeing that get weakened.”

The recently released NOAA report says 95 whale entanglements were confirmed in U.S. waters in 2024, compared to 64 in 2023. The annual average between 2007 and 2023 was 71.

NOAA rescue teams were tracking an entangled humpback whale spotted off Laguna Beach in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Delaney Trowbridge/Newport Coastal Adventure)

A quarter of the entangled whales, mostly humpbacks, were reported off California, followed by Massachusetts, with 18%; Alaska, with 16%; and Hawaii, with 12%.

Many of the whales were found wrapped in fishing gear, primarily used to catch lobsters and crabs. The gear, often connected to a trap on the seafloor and a buoy at the surface, can wrap itself around whales’ mouths, tails and bodies, leaving them struggling to feed and even swim.

Preliminary numbers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for this year have reported seven entangled whales off the California coast – three in just the last month.

“This report paints a clear picture: our current safeguards are not enough,” said Gib Brogan, a senior scientist with Oceana, the world’s largest advocacy group for protecting the oceans, sea creatures and resources.

The report’s release comes during an already bleak year for marine life, especially off California. In the first half of the year, thousands of sea lions and dolphins stranded along beaches in Southern California, many found dead, poisoned by domoic acid created by toxic algae.

The algae blooms even affected whales, with at least two found dead on beaches in Southern California, necropsies confirming high levels of toxins.

Up north, hundreds of sea lions have been found on beaches in recent months suffering from a bacterial condition that is sickening and killing younger sea lions by attacking their kidneys, said John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles in San Pedro.

“The mortality rate is much higher this year (in Northern California), just like the mortality rate was higher than we’ve ever seen here for domoic acid,” Warner said. “To see mortality rates change pretty significantly in short periods of time raises eyebrows, as it should.”

“At a time when there are bigger threats and existing ones that are starting to be so much worse with multiple species dying of sea lions, dolphins and whales, like we saw for the first time this year, this is not the time to be gutting protections you’d be expecting to have conversations about strengthening,” Warner said of concern he and his colleagues have about the Trump administration’s decision earlier this year to reduce staffing and budgets for NOAA.

Geoff Shester, a senior scientist with Oceana, also raised concerns about a draft bill in Congress pushed by Rep. Nick Begich, a Republican Congressman from Alaska, that would change parts of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and relax its definition of “harm.”

If the definition is narrowed to actual injury, as proposed, and no longer includes activities that displace whales or cause them to change behavior, that would limit the federal agency’s ability to mitigate threats, Shester argued, while also requiring a higher burden of proof for conservation actions.

Shester added that he has concerns about how many mammals could end up being killed by human activities without triggering enforcement. For example, in California, the limit is three entanglements of humpback whales before triggering a calendar-year closure of commercial fishing; the MMPA changes could raise that limit to 30 entanglements, Shester said.

During a House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries hearing this summer, Begich said the 50-year act needs updating, arguing it has “vague or overly precautionary standards.”

Whale watching crews and rescue teams have been keeping track of an entangled whale first spotted on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 and last seen Monday, Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy of Matt Stumpf/Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching captain)

“As the decades have passed, we’ve seen how its implementation, particularly in the use of vague or overly precautionary standards, has led to confusion, delay and unintended harm,” Begich said. “This draft aims to bring clarity, objectivity, and balance back into the implementation of the MMPA.”

Meanwhile, those on the front lines of rescuing and rehabilitating animals at care centers are concerned that the current furloughs and the possibility of job cuts could result in less support for struggling ocean creatures.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as part of an effort to cut costs at the federal level, included deep trims to NOAA’s staff, though some rehiring has happened in its National Weather Service arm.

Using a Freedom of Information request, staff at the Center for Biological Diversity, the group that sued the California State Department of Fish and Wildlife for not doing enough to stop whale entanglements from fishing gear, reported that more than half – 288 people – who were laid off worked to support marine wildlife and ecosystems.

Of the 588 people let go from 20 offices nationwide, most were on the West Coast, said David Derrick, an attorney for the center’s Oceans Program.

“When you combine that with the agency’s ongoing underfunding, the fact that Trump wanted to slash funding even deeper, and the steep and drastic cuts to the workforce (as shown by responses to our FOIA requests) it paints a grim picture for conservation keeping pace with development and industry interests,” he said in an email.

During the current shutdown, the teams have a contact at NOAA to call in the event of an emergency with a protected animal, but how quickly a response could be mounted is a question, Warner said. “They are the only ones who can.”

A team from The Marine Mammal Care Center, Los Angeles, responds to an entangled gray whale off Palos Verdes in March 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles.)

NOAA is the only organization that can oversee the training of rescue crews for when an entangled whale is spotted and must have staff on the water to ensure the process is done correctly and safely.

“NOAA’s oversight provides coordination, permitting and accountability that keeps the system working,” said Dr. Alissa Deming with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, adding that without the agency functioning at full force, it strips away a layer of protection for marine life.

A team from The Marine Mammal Care Center, Los Angeles, responds to an entangled gray whale off Palos Verdes in March 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles.)

“When it goes quiet, our nation’s ability to protect marine mammals and understand what’s happening in our oceans is seriously compromised,” she said.

Marie Clark, a longtime boat captain with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari out of the Dana Point Harbor, said she is already seeing the effects of cuts to the federal agency and, now as lobster season gets underway, she is concerned there is no oversight from federal authorities who are furloughed.

“We still have old traps out there, some may be from 2023,” she said of Southern California waters. “But there is no funding to check where the traps are put or to pull up old traps and fine fishermen.”