Published: Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
Blue whale found dead off Central Coast hauled to Ragged Point and cut up
Mammal is towed to Ragged Point and cut up for examination
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeMarine-mammal scientists converged on the remains of a 50-foot-long blue whale towed to a beach south of Ragged Point on Monday. Marine veterinarians said it had a fractured skull and vertebra and hemorrhaging muscle tissue, most likely the result of being struck by a ship.
Finding the body of one of these huge creatures, which can grow to over 100 feet long, is rare in this area, according to Shelbi Stoudt of The Marine Mammal Center, a rehabilitation and rescue group based in Sausalito.
The National Marine Fisheries Service asked The Marine Mammal Center and other scientists to examine the carcass to determine why the whale died and if it was a possible ship strike in light of the many whale strandings — including rare blue whales — near the Channel Islands last year.
Before last year’s strandings, Stoudt said they had recorded only two others — one in 2004 in Monterey and another in 2002 in the Carmel Headlands.
Blue whales are the largest mammals on Earth, and possibly the largest animals ever, according to the American Cetacean Society Web site, www.acsonline.org.
Fearing the endangered animals could soon become extinct, the International Whaling Commission banned all hunting of blue whales in 1966. There are now an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 blue whales in the Northern Hemisphere.
The whale that ended up on the beach not far from where San Luis Obispo County borders Monterey County was first spotted Friday about a third of a mile offshore, Stoudt said in an e-mail to The Tribune.
It was towed by a salvage vessel about 30 miles south to where it could be safely beached and studied, with the assistance of heavy equipment to maneuver the enormous carcass.
The male whale, thought to be only a year old, likely had been floating in the water for three to five days, according to Jim Oswald of The Marine Mammal Center.
Oswald said biologists and veterinarians sectioned the whale’s body on the beach, systematically looking for the cause of death and collecting samples of tissue, blubber and bone.
Among the institutions represented were the Marine Wildlife Institute, Long Marine Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz, Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the state Department of Fish and Game, in addition to The Marine Mammal Center.
Scientists hurried to finish their examination Monday evening, before the arrival of the storm that moved in Tuesday. They plan to leave the body parts exposed through the storm, since they’d have a good chance of being carried out to sea. After that, the scientists will decide if they need to bury what’s left.
Josh Warren of Cambria, who ran one of the excavators used to move the whale’s body, said things “really got stinky’’ when the scientists started cutting.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.