A humpback whale with no tail spotted in Washington state's Salish Sea likely lost its iconic flukes after becoming entangled, possibly in some kind of line or fishing gear, experts say. That loss of the flukes -- distinctive to each whale and used for propulsion-- is a likely death sentence for the creature, last reported as seen in late July. Jessica Farrer, research director with The Whale Museum on Washington's San Juan Island, was among those who responded to a sighting of the whale on July 23 off a nearby island. The institution, as part of its work, helps respond to reports of stranded or distressed marine mammals and has a program aimed at educating boaters on best practices for whale watching. Farrer had previously seen injured humpbacks but never something like this. She described the sight of the whale as heartbreaking. The whale in photos taken by volunteers with The Whale Museum appears almost club-like in shape. "I spent a lot of time working around humpbacks and that that sort of iconic figure of them fluking is is something. I don't know that. I feel like it stirs emotion in anybody that sees that. And to so to see one of these animals that's completely missing. That part of its body. It's. It's very jarring," Farrer said. The conclusion of experts with whom photos and video of the whale were shared is that the whale likely lost its flukes due to entanglement, she said. Entanglement in fishing gear, such as mooring lines, crab pots and nets, is one of the hazards faced by humpbacks, along with strikes or harassment by ships or boats and potential impacts of climate change on food. Evidence suggests that most humpback whales experience entanglement at some point in their lives but they're often able to shed the gear on their own, according to NOAA Fisheries. The portion of whales that become entangled and die is unknown, the agency said. There were 16 confirmed humpback entanglements off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California last year, according to statistics from NOAA Fisheries. The agency said that remains higher than the number of reported entanglements before This remains above the numbers of reported entanglements prior to 2014, but continues a pattern of fewer reported entanglements compared to the high point of more than 50 in 2016. Similar to recent years, humpback whales continue to be the most common species entangled, with 16 separate entanglements confirmed in 2023 Justin Viezbicke, a whale entanglement responder and NOAA Fisheries' stranding coordinator in California, said there are periodic sightings — maybe every year or two — of a whale along the West Coast seen without its flukes, though he said those situations probably occur more often than they're seen. Just recently, he said responders off the coast of southern California had freed a humpback that had become entangled in gear that was eating into its flukes. Earlier this year, responders were able to free a humpback that had become entangled in fishing gear in a high-traffic area near the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. NOAA Fisheries described that whale as “essentially hog-tied,” and anchored in place by the line before it was cut free. "The remarkable thing with this whale is that it's lived on long enough for us to document it, so that we can then bring it to the attention of everybody. Because it's one thing to show pictures of whales that are entangled or, you know, to talk about whales that have died from entanglements or see entanglement scars. But this whale swimming in the Salish Sea completely without a tail, I feel like, is the poster child for for the hazards that they're facing in the world's oceans," Farrer said.