MOSS LANDING — Peggy Stap didn’t see a whale until she was 41 years old, but she’s now one of their biggest allies.

During a trip to Hawaii to mourn the death of her father, the Michigan native was taken with the sight of a humpback whale. Less than two decades later, she now operates a volunteer outfit out of Moss Landing that performs high-seas rescues, freeing whales from fishing gear that has entangled record numbers of the ocean giants.

“There’ve been so many calls this winter,” said Stap, who operates under one of the few permits in California to do such work. “We’ve never had calls like that.”

Now, Stap needs a bigger boat. Her nonprofit, Marine Life Studies, has been operating its highly-regarded Whale Entanglement Team out of a 19-foot Donzi boat named “Sweet Pea” that must be loaded with equipment every time the team gets a call — think of Helen Hunt’s tornado chasers in “Twister.”

She has her eyes on a 40-foot Albin that can be pre-loaded with positional locators, computer hardware and other equipment, and has secured two anonymous donors who will match donations up to $150,000. Stap is asking the public to chip in the rest.

“No donation is too small,” Stap said. “I want everyone to feel that they’re helping to save the whales.”

This week, environmental groups released data from the National Marine Fisheries Service showing that West Coast whale entanglements doubled last year, to 30. Seven were confirmed dead.

What’s more, there have been 25 reports already this year, with Stap and her team of volunteers responding to a half-dozen themselves.

Since the team relies on reports of entangled whale from whale-watching boats and others, speed and mobility are critical. A new boat would allow her to essentially locate the team’s office in a slip at Moss Landing Harbor.

“The quicker you’re out there, the better chance you have of getting to the whale while someone is standing by,” Stap said. “Once you lose that whale, it’s like looking for a tiny, tiny needle in a humongous haystack.”

Team members pay for their own fuel, and even their own hotel rooms when they travel. They also work closely with area marine biologists, and the team has hosted volunteers who have gone on to pursue careers in that field.

“It’ll be a great platform to train people for the Whale Entanglement Team,” Stap said of a new boat.

Marine Life Studies is planning to put together a crowdfunding campaign. In the meantime, donors can give by going to the nonprofit’s website, marinelifestudies.org, and clicking on the “Donate” button.

Jason Hoppin can be reached at 726-4363. —— (c)2015 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) Visit the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) at www.santacruzsentinel.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. AMX-2015-04-30T05:17:00-04:00