Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

FLORENCE, Ore. - A whale got entangled in the lines from crab pots off the Oregon Coast on Friday, then freed itself and swam into deeper waters a few hours later, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on a routine mission first spotted the whale just after 2 p.m. and noticed that a line from a crab pot was caught behind its dorsal fin.

The whale measured about 30 feet in length and appeared to be an endangered Humpback whale.  However, it also could have been a minke whale.

Either a humpback or a minke would be rare: compared to 18,000 gray whales, there are only about 1,100 humpback whales that travel past the Oregon Coast. Minke may be even rarer. Morris Grover, director of the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, Ore., said only one minke whale is spotted along the Oregon Coast each year.

"We seldom see them," he said "We know they are there. They eat close to shore. We normally see about one a year."

Whale beachings are even rarer still. There were no reported beachings in 2008 in Oregon. One whale beached in both 2007 and 2006.

(All photos courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)