SEKIU - A young humpback whale hale entangled in crab lines hasn't been seen since early Sunday near Clallam Bay.

The whale was struggling for its life in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Sunday, as rescuers tried to help free it from crab lines wrapped and tangled tightly around its body.

The rescue effort began Saturday, but nothing has worked. The efforts were set back further when fishermen cut tracking tags and floats from the whale overnight.

If the entangling crab lines aren't removed soon, the whale calf could die, rescuers said.

John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective said his group is working with Makah Fisheries and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to try to free the whale.

He said the young humpback has multiple crab lines attached around its pectoral fin, mouth and trailing back to the fluke. The whale has scars indicating it had been entangled for quite some time, he said.

The whale is the size of the calf, but there is no mother in the area, off the northern Olympic Peninsula coast near Sekiu.

Rescuers were initially successful in attaching some marker floats and a tracking radio tag to the whale on Saturday so they could resume the rescue effort on Sunday. But some well-intentioned fisherman who encountered the whale overnight removed the floats and tag, thinking this would help the whale.

Rescuers now have lost their ability to track the animal, and it is no longer in the same area where it was found Saturday.

"After unsuccessfully searching for the whale the rest of the morning, we suspended efforts pending new sightings of the whale and improved conditions," Calambokidis said.

Anyone who sights the entangled whale is encouraged to contact Cascadia at 800-747-7329.