Overview

• NOAA confirmed 95 large-whale entanglements in U.S. waters in 2024, a 48% jump from 64 in 2023 and well above the long-term average.
• California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Massachusetts accounted for 71% of cases, with California leading at 25% and hotspots in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.
• Humpbacks were hardest hit, with 77 cases reported, while gray, fin, minke, sperm, bowhead, and critically endangered North Atlantic right whales were also affected.
• Fishing lines, traps, and buoys were implicated in many incidents, spurring calls to cut vertical lines, accelerate ropeless or pop-up gear, and maintain strong NOAA and Marine Mammal Protection Act safeguards; California plans statewide pop-up gear authorization starting in 2026.
• The U.S. Large Whale Entanglement Response Network handled 37 of 87 live-whale reports in 2024, fully or partially freeing 11, as NOAA urged the public to report entanglements rather than attempt rescues after eight untrained interventions were recorded.