Search operation has been planned for a humpback whale that is considered to have been caught in the fishing gear. Hawaii officials are searching for the whale that is also dragging two red plastic buoys.

The whale was most recently spotted off Niihau, Hawaii's smallest inhabited island. A tour boat captain and a helicopter pilot have seen the whale inside a crater at Lehua. At that time, the boat was taking passengers from Kauai to waters off Lehua, Niihau and Kauai's northern Na Pali Coast.

The Holo Holo Charters tour boat saw the entangled whale. Mel Wills, the tour company's operations manager, said on general basis, the Charters boats see one or two entangled whales each winter. It is the time when humpback whales migrate from Alaska waters to Hawaii for the purpose of breeding and giving birth.

The whale is said to be trailing a heavy gauge line measuring 50 to 60 feet. Along with it, two red plastic buoys were also seen caught in the gear. Ed Lyman, with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, was of the view that the current entanglement case is the 11th confirmed case of an entangled whale in Hawaii and that too this winter.

It is suspected that the fishing gear is from Alaska. Lyman said that there are possibilities that the whale might have got entangled there, but it swam through to Hawaii with it.

Humpback whales are considered to be an endangered species. But with the passage of time, their numbers have increased in Hawaii waters. One of the main reasons for the same is considered to be the ban on commercial whaling that was levied some 50 years ago.