Concern grows over minke whale trapped for days in Long Beach harbor

Concern is growing Friday among experts and the public alike over a whale trapped for several days in the Long Beach Catalina Landing.

The minke whale is believed to have arrived late at night earlier in the week, possibly Tuesday, during a high tide but it was unclear how long it can survive in the harbor’s shallow waters.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials attempted to help the whale find its way out on Thursday.

An opening out of the harbor was widened and it did appear for a while that the whale would leave but it turned around and swam back a short time later.

“I hope it gets out. The water’s pretty dingy here … It’s a beautiful animal. If it’s not sick it should be able to get out of here,” local resident Ray Pereira said.

Unfortunately, KTLA’s Erin Myers said the whale was mostly going in circles on Friday near the Catalina Express docks.

One expert believes the bridge may be to blame for the whale’s reluctance to leave the area.

“It’s potentially the bridge. You know, this is a very surface-visual animal and when you come out of that little area and you look up, there’s this very large structure that’s overhead, and whales are not used to having things over them,” Justin Viezbicke of NOAA Fisheries said. 

The young whale is apparently in its teens and still relatively healthy with no visible wounds.

“It’s swimming regularly. It’s coming up in a regular pattern. It doesn’t look skinny … So, there’s nothing to indicate that it’s really sick,” Marine Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger said. 

Any plans to help the whale on Friday remain unclear but the public was asked to keep its distance and not throw anything into the water.