Volunteers respond after humpback whale gets caught in fishing line

MONTEREY BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- Volunteers moved quickly to help free a humpback whale caught in fishing line in Monterey Bay.

A whale-watching tour first spotted the distressed whale caught in the line on Thursday.

It reported what it saw and a team of volunteers authorized by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sailed from Moss Landing Harbor to free the animal.

Luckily, the humpback was able to free itself and rejoin its pod before the team arrived.

The whale entanglement team volunteers say they pulled an old crab pot buoy and about 200 feet of line from the water. Researchers say 30 to 50 percent of the humpback whale population in the North Pacific have entanglement scars.