Dead whale washed up in Huntington Beach
October 23rd, 2007, 11:53 am · 8 Comments · posted by Laylan Connelly, staff writer
A 50-foot whale carcass washed up on shore last week in Huntington Beach and was buried in the sand near Brookhurst Street.
The dead whale was spotted last Wednesday about two miles from the Newport Pier by a Newport police helicopter, according to a weekly report put out by the city of Huntington Beach.
The whale is the latest in a number of dead whales found along the coast recently.
There were two whales found dead off the Southern California coast in late September – one near Ventura and the other near the Santa Barbara Channel. Biologists believe they were hit by vessels. A dead whale washed up in Long Beach on Sept. 8 – but was towed out to shore before examination. To read the full story, CLICK HERE.
In the latest incident, a yellow tow strap was around the tail of the whale, indicating that another agency had tried to tow it out to sea. It is unclear if it was the same whale towed out of Long Beach.
Newport folks contacted the HB city and state lifeguards last Wednesday to let them know about the whale, which was traveling northbound at about a mile an hour, the e-mail read.
The whale washed up on Thursday morning. HB City and State beach maintenance crews started to dig at 9 a.m., and by 5 p.m., a 12-foot hole was created to bury the whale.
“The carcass was so damaged and decomposed that the type of whale was indistinguishable,” the report read.
For a daily blog on beach happenings, plus forecasts from the coast, go to ocregister.com/beaches
Yucky. Poor thing.
BBQ or fish sticks?
How sad!! poor thing….but ewwwwww that they buried it only 12 feet under the sand!!! *staying away from Brookhurst* no surfing around brookhurst for me!
Tow the carcass to the farllon islands and let the great whites eat it.
In the future, maybe they should put a couple of pounds of C-4 into the carcass, tow it into the middle of the San Pedro Channel, and blow it up. Not only will the carcass be blown into bite-size chunks, but the explosion will draw sharks like ringing a dinner bell.
A dead whale? Sounds like my ex wife in bed!
great , just bring those sharks in closer as the smell seeps into the ocean the next year or so.
What a shame. However, burying it on a local beach popular with beachgoers and surfers, you run the risk of the whales oils leaching back into the ocean, drawing sharks eager for dinner. That happened at a popular San Diego County surfing spot in 2003. I would suggest buriel at sea by means of cremation. Far enough out to sea to eliminate the smell of burning blubber on shore.