Blunt-force trauma found on whale that washed up in Huntington Beach - Los Angeles Times
Crashes with boats are one of the major causes of death for humpback and many other species of whales, Pacific Marine Mammal Center officials said in a statement. Others, like entanglement in fishing equipment and pollution, are also related to human activities.
Their population dwindled by as much as 95% of historically recorded figures before a moratorium on commercial whaling went into place in 1985. That as well as their addition to the endangered species list in the 1970s have been pivotal in a steady recovery in their numbers over the decades.
It’s typically rare for whales to become stranded on dry land, but at least one other has been reported in California so far this year. The body of a gray whale appeared on Oso Flaco Beach in San Luis Obispo County on Jan. 19. And a collision with a vessel may have been what killed a young fin whale that washed ashore on Ten Mile Beach in Mendocino County in September.
Elsewhere, as many as six whales — including three humpbacks — became stranded on the south shore of Massachusetts within a six-month period. And on the other side of the Atlantic, an entire pod of 77 pilot whales washed up on a beach in Orkney off the northeastern coast of Scotland, one of the largest mass strandings recorded in decades.
Biologists collected samples from the whale found in Huntington Beach before crews cleared it from the beach. Further analysis will be performed, and researchers plan on issuing a complete report at a later date.
(Courtesy of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center and the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance )
Eric Licas covers Newport Beach for the Daily Pilot. He previously was a crime and public safety reporter and, before that, spent four years as a staff writer with the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He has been on the ground to cover active wildfires, civil unrest and mass shootings. He was born in the Philippines, raised in the San Fernando Valley and is a Cal State Northridge alumnus.
