Watch: Formerly Entangled Whale Swimming Off Orange County Coast

DANA POINT, CA — The famed blue whale, known to California whale watchers as 'Kinko,' returned to the waters off Dana Point this week. The whale bears healed scars near the base of the left tail fluke, possibly caused by fishing gear, according to Capt. Dave Anderson of Captain Dave's Dolphin And Whale Watching Safari. A disentanglement expert, Anderson discussed Kinko's condition and the excitement seeing the whale reappear has brought to the whale watching community.

In spite of any previous injury the blue whale appears to have sustained, it now seems healthy and is feeding in Orange County waters.

Whale watchers observed 'Kinko's' antics throughout the day. Anderson discussed that the whale has not been officially sighted in the area for the past four years.

"Blue whales migrate to the waters off the U.S. west coast to feed on krill, a very small shrimp-like crustacean," Anderson explained. "After being hunted almost to extinction in the early 1900's, blue whales are now a protected species. Although whaling is no longer considered a major threat to blue whales, ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are ongoing risks."

In 2016 there were four reports of entangled blues whales off the U.S. west coast, including another well-known whale named 'Delta'.

Last year there were three confirmed reports of entangled blue whales off the west coast according to NOAA Fisheries.

Nearly 1,000 dolphins and whales worldwide are estimated to die every day due to fishing gear entanglement. Captain Dave helped organize Orange County's first whale disentanglement team and has been involved with several successful whale disentanglements.

Blue whale sightings off the coast of Dana Point have "exceeded expectations this summer," Anderson said. In May, local whale watching excursions have tracked encounters with a 200% increase from the same month in 2017. And this month sightings continue to be above average, in comparison with last year.

Captain Dave's Whale Watching and Dolphin Safari, video: Photo credit: Mark Tyson/DolphinSafari.com