Dead gray whale towed in for autopsy

[pscot]

The 40-foot male gray whale that had been floating dead around Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound the past three days was located Tuesday afternoon and towed to Oak Harbor for examination. The whale, first spotted Sunday morning floating on its side off the northwest section of Camano Island, was found Tuesday off the southeast tip of Camano after drifting on the tide past Langley and Hat Island.

"Right now, we have no idea about the cause of death," Garrett said.

He said it is uncertain if the whale is one of the dozen or so that regularly visit Saratoga Passage during their migration from Mexico to Canada to feed on the abundant ghost shrimp in the area. "If it isn't one of those, it would be a pretty typical occurrence for a gray whale to come in here and die, because it wouldn't know where the food is," Garrett said. "We'll just have to look at the stomach contents."

Garrett said examining a dead whale can be uncomfortable due to the intense smell caused by decomposition.



http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/swr/news/43994922.html

[uppityperson]

1. Interesting, thank you. Bit of understatement there "uncomfortable" due to smell.

[pscot]

2. The last sentence got cut off

Garrett said it helps to smear mentholatum on your upper lip. And wear clothes that can be thrown away when you're done.

[uppityperson]

3. at least they should be smart enough to not dynamite it

[pscot]

4. This whale died of major internal injuries

It seems to have been hit by a ship. No vessel has reported the incident. The SouthWhidbey Record is reporting that a second whale has been found dead in Possession Sound. This was a younger animal. Cause of death unknown.

[uppityperson]

5. Huh, I wonder who or what is running into whales?

Whale viewing boats usually are looking for orcas, aren't they? Wonder if it is commercial, private, whale viewers, who.

[pscot]

6. It now seems that both whales

were killed by being run over. The big one is beached near NAS Whidbey. After the critter decomposes, the skull will be put on display at Deception Pass visitors center and the bones will be moved to a research facility in the San Juans. According to the Whidbey Examiner, of Coupeville, at this point the carcass is so high even the seagulls have lost interest.