U.S. Whale Entanglements Are on the Rise, New Data Shows

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed 95 large whale entanglement cases last year, a 48 percent increase from 2023

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

October 2, 2025

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The number of large whales that became entangled in fishing gear along coasts in the United States rose sharply in 2024, according to new federal data.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed 95 whale entanglement cases in U.S. waters last year, a 48 percent increase from 2023, when the agency recorded 64 entanglements. The 2024 number is also significantly higher than the 17-year annual average of 71.4 entanglements.

NOAA shared the numbers in its latest annual report, which the agency is required to publish under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Federal officials say they are still analyzing the data to understand “what factors contributed to the increase and whether this increase is temporary or part of a longer term trend,” according to a statement from NOAA.

Fishing gear—such as nets, lines, buoys and ropes—can get wrapped around large whales as they swim through the world’s oceans, leading to infection, starvation, tail and flipper amputation, blood loss, strangulation, drowning or death. Whales can sometimes free themselves, but they often end up ensnared for months or years.

Entanglement is just one of the many hazards threatening large whales. The marine mammals are also vulnerable to ship strikes, pollution, climate change and habitat degradation.

In 2024, experts with the U.S. Large Whale Entanglement Response Network were able to respond to 37 of 87 reports of live whales that had become entangled in gear. They fully or partially freed 11 of them. Four of the 87 whales were able to free themselves, although one later died.

In eight cases, untrained individuals tried to disentangle the whales, which resulted in at least one creature’s death. Federal officials urged members of the public to report whale entanglements, but also to keep a safe distance until trained responders arrive.

“Whales are unpredictable, and attempting to remove an entanglement is extremely dangerous,” according to the report.

Officials were able to trace roughly half of the 2024 cases to specific commercial and recreational fisheries. The other cases involved gear that could not be directly linked to a specific source, though NOAA suspects they were probably related to fisheries.

Whale entanglements were documented off the coasts of 12 states, but 71 percent of cases occurred off California, Massachusetts, Alaska and Hawaii. A quarter of all entanglements took place off California, primarily in Monterey Bay.

Humpback whales accounted for most of the entanglements (77 out of 95), followed by gray whales, North Atlantic right whales, minke whales, sperm whales, fin whales and bowhead whales. That species distribution aligns with longer-term trends, as humpbacks make up more than 70 percent of all confirmed entanglements since 2007, according to NOAA.

Experts are especially concerned about the four endangered North Atlantic right whales that became entangled in U.S. waters last year. An estimated 370 individuals remain in the wild, including just 70 females that are actively reproducing.

The NOAA report does not include six additional entangled North Atlantic right whales that were reported in Canadian waters in 2024, reports WBUR’s Barbara Moran, nor does it account for whales that might have escaped their entanglements or died before being officially recorded. Whales of all species can also suffer long-term consequences, even after they’ve been freed from fishing gear.

“We’re all really concerned and alarmed,” Scott Landry, director of the Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts, tells WBUR. “North Atlantic right whales were hunted to the brink of extinction, so it’s taken us a long time to claw back their numbers to where they are today. Anything that jeopardizes that is very nerve wracking.”

Conservationists are calling for more safeguards to help protect large whales from entanglement, such as “ropeless” fishing systems that eliminate the dangers presented by buoy lines, and adjusted fishing seasons that take migrations and mating into account. Last year, for instance, California delayed the Bay Area’s commercial Dungeness crab season, because a high number of humpback whales were migrating through the area.

“The largest animals on the planet don’t stand a chance when there are too many fishing lines in times and places that are important to whales,” says Gib Brogan, a fisheries campaign director at the nonprofit ocean conservation group Oceana, in a statement. “[The 2024 entanglement] numbers represent more than dead whales, they showcase needless suffering.”

Sarah Kuta | Read More

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.