Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Cause sought in death of whale
Researchers will study the whale's body to find out why it washed up near Saratoga Passage.
CAMANO ISLAND -- Researchers will begin trying to learn what killed a 30-ton gray whale found floating in the Saratoga Passage this past weekend.
Several dozen people spotted the adult whale's body, half submerged in the waters just off Camano Island State Park, beginning about 10 a.m. Sunday, said Susan Berta, co-founder of the Whidbey Island-based Orca Network.
The group secured permission from officials at Naval Air Station Whidbey to pull the whale onto a restricted Navy-owned beach on Whidbey Island Monday night, she said. There, researchers from several organizations planned to perform a necropsy to determine cause of death, she said.
"We need to wait until high tide so we can pull the whale as far up on the beach as possible," she said.
The Orca Network tracks the movements of a small population of about a dozen gray whales that migrate into local waters each year. It's not clear if the dead whale belongs to that group, she said.
The dead gray whale had what appeared to be wounds on its body consistent with strike marks from orcas, also called killer whales, Berta said. They won't know the exact nature of the wounds until the dead whale is examined, she said.
Gray whales typically make a pit stop at Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound at this time of year and stay for three months, bulking up on ghost shrimp before they head north to the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia.
Sometimes, a stray whale who normally wouldn't frequent local waters will come here when it's too sick or too old to continue with its northward migration, she said.
"One or two or three gray whales will die and come up to the beach every year," Berta said.
Gray whales were listed on the federal government's endangered species list until 1994. Gray whales experienced a brief resurgence but their numbers fell again due, Berta said, to a diminished food supply.
Experts don't agree on how many gray whales are left, but population estimates range between 18,000 and 24,000, Berta said. She estimated an adult male gray can reach more than 45 feet long.
After the necropsy, researchers will take some of the whale's bones for educational purposes. They also plan to test organs for diseases and check the contents of the its stomach to see what it's been eating.
The rest of the whale will be left on the beach to decompose and feed area wildlife, she said.
Another dead whale was spotted Monday south of Point Whitehorn in Whatcom County. Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network on Monday evening was towing the 20-plus-foot long body to a beach for a necropsy, said Mariann Carrasco, who coordinates the group's efforts. "This whale has a lot of gashes on its underbelly. We don't know why it died," she said."
It will be a while before specialists can determine if the whale deaths are somehow connected, Carrasco said.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Several dozen people spotted the adult whale's body, half submerged in the waters just off Camano Island State Park, beginning about 10 a.m. Sunday, said Susan Berta, co-founder of the Whidbey Island-based Orca Network.
The group secured permission from officials at Naval Air Station Whidbey to pull the whale onto a restricted Navy-owned beach on Whidbey Island Monday night, she said. There, researchers from several organizations planned to perform a necropsy to determine cause of death, she said.
"We need to wait until high tide so we can pull the whale as far up on the beach as possible," she said.
The Orca Network tracks the movements of a small population of about a dozen gray whales that migrate into local waters each year. It's not clear if the dead whale belongs to that group, she said.
The dead gray whale had what appeared to be wounds on its body consistent with strike marks from orcas, also called killer whales, Berta said. They won't know the exact nature of the wounds until the dead whale is examined, she said.
Gray whales typically make a pit stop at Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound at this time of year and stay for three months, bulking up on ghost shrimp before they head north to the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia.
Sometimes, a stray whale who normally wouldn't frequent local waters will come here when it's too sick or too old to continue with its northward migration, she said.
"One or two or three gray whales will die and come up to the beach every year," Berta said.
Gray whales were listed on the federal government's endangered species list until 1994. Gray whales experienced a brief resurgence but their numbers fell again due, Berta said, to a diminished food supply.
Experts don't agree on how many gray whales are left, but population estimates range between 18,000 and 24,000, Berta said. She estimated an adult male gray can reach more than 45 feet long.
After the necropsy, researchers will take some of the whale's bones for educational purposes. They also plan to test organs for diseases and check the contents of the its stomach to see what it's been eating.
The rest of the whale will be left on the beach to decompose and feed area wildlife, she said.
Another dead whale was spotted Monday south of Point Whitehorn in Whatcom County. Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network on Monday evening was towing the 20-plus-foot long body to a beach for a necropsy, said Mariann Carrasco, who coordinates the group's efforts. "This whale has a lot of gashes on its underbelly. We don't know why it died," she said."
It will be a while before specialists can determine if the whale deaths are somehow connected, Carrasco said.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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