Fisherman cuts entangled humpback whale free of rope

Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A commercial fisherman off the California coast jumped into the water to rescue a humpback whale entangled in a rope.

A video filmed by eel fisherman Nicholas Taron of the F/V Persistence shows his shipmate, Sam Synstelien, jumping into the water to cut the humpback free of the rope off Morro Bay.

"[The whale] was just swimming in counter-clockwise circles," Taron told NBC Los Angeles. "You could tell he was stressed and being held to the bottom."

Taron said the crew had reported the distressed whale to the Coast Guard, but ended up taking matters into their own hands when the Coast Guard told them there was little that could be done for the ocean mammal.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Fisheries warned against others attempting similar amateur rescues.

"We've had people die trying to get in the water, and just last year, we lost one of our responders," NOAA spokesman Justin Veizbicke said. "Even though it seems like it's a very stressful situation, we usually have days, weeks, sometimes even months to find these animals and get this gear off."