A sad video has emerged of a 20-year-old whale found dead off the coast of Newport Beach, CA, USA.

The footage, captured with a drone on April 20, shows Scarlet floating on the surface of the ocean while a boat tows her.

"Scarlet has had a very rough past, in September 2016, I photographed her breaching out of the water which revealed ropes coming out from her mouth and wrapped around her left pectoral fin which was causing bleeding," the filmer Mark Girardeau wrote online.

"She showed up again a month and a half later off our coast where I got photos of her with less rope entangled around her, over the next week or two, she eventually managed to free herself of all rope."

"Scarlet was approximately 20 years old and has had several calves throughout the years. She was given the name Scarlet due to the scars she now bares from her entanglement and the fact that she's a female," he added.