This article from Laura Jean Kasa, ED of Saving Ocean Wildlife

We are so fortunate to live here on the California coast where we can enjoy the ocean for its many benefits including the magnificent animals that inhabit these waters.  However, many of these animals are endangered and face serious threats to their survival.  In the last ten days alone, eight gray whales have shown up dead in the Bay area.

Saving Ocean Wildlife is a non-profit that was created to engage the community in helping to protect these animals.  We offer a free field guide at www.savingoceanwildlife.org, to help raise awareness about the animals likely to been seen in the Pacific Ocean.  We also recognized that when a marine animal is in distress, most people do not know who to call.  We are bridging that gap by encouraging the public to report these sightings by contacting our partners at NOAA, the federal agency in charge of all marine mammal and turtle strandings off the entire coast of CA and all whale entanglements.   We are getting “Eyes on the Ocean” to collect information about what is happening to these animals.

Beyond increasing reporting, we have big visions of going a leap further by addressing a gap that is causing whales to die.  Whale entanglements off our coast increased by 400% in 2014.  Trying to rescue these animals has proven to be quite a challenge.  

When an entangled whale is reported, NOAA needs time to assess how to best plan a response.  They need to coordinate with the local rescue agency which then needs to get their team and gear together, get out to their boat and then travel out to the spot where the whale was last seen.  That can take three to five hours and by then the whale is most likely long gone.  A whale not found will continue to swim on with this heavy gear cutting into its fins, mouth or tail, causing this majestic and usually powerful creature, a slow and very painful death.  

Our goal at Saving Ocean Wildlife is to increase the chances for whales to be rescued and we do this by creating a rapid response team that can get out quickly to a whale in trouble.  If a boater is in the area, we envision them getting a notification and then reporting through an app or a text message that they can go and stand by that whale, tracking its location until the official rescue team can arrive.  There are thousands of boaters in California, out on the water year-round.  Our ability to engage this community is the solution that will allow for a dramatic increase in the likelihood that the rescue team can find their way to the whale and attempt to free it.  

We are looking for strong corporate partners who want to help us increase our visibility so that this project can make a huge impact in the lives of these animals.  Please reach out to Laura Kasa at lkasa@savingoceanwildlife.org if you can help. Together we can make a difference.