TULALIP — For the third day in a row, the gray whale seen in Everett was stranded at low tide Saturday, this time in Tulalip Bay.
Ike Hanks, 57, who lives on Mission Beach, could see the 40-foot whale on the beach about 9 or 10 a.m., with most of its body exposed. It wasn’t moving much. Hanks was about 100 feet away. At low tide, the mud at the bay is so thick, it’s like quicksand.
Hanks said he’s never seen a whale in the Tulalip Bay.
“It makes you realize how small you really are,” he said.
As in the past two days, people tried to help the whale, spraying water on it.
Some Tulalip tribal members came up closer in a canoe, drumming and singing.
Tribal members were praying for the whale to get well and find its way out to deeper water, Tulalip tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon said.
“We have the greatest respect for whales,” he said.
Marine biologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle arrived, too, trying to keep the whale comfortable. The whale is sick, and its prospects are grim, said Brian Gorman, a NOAA spokesman.
“It’s very unusual for a whale to beach itself and then get back to the water — let alone to do it twice or three times,” he said.
The biologists estimate the whale is 5 or 6 years old. It was seen off Mukilteo for about a month, and it looked weak, Gorman said.
“Even when it gets back into the deep water, it doesn’t seem to know what to do,” he said. “All we can do now is keep an eye on it.”
Martha Barger of Tulalip and her 5-year-old daughter, Summer, came out to the Tulalip Tribal Center late Saturday morning to see how the whale was doing. As the tide begin to rise, the whale drifted into deeper water, with just the top of its back emerging from the water once in a while. The mother and daughter were glad to see it swimming freely again.
Alisa Brooks drove from Shoreline to see the whale. She receives updates on whale sightings around the Puget Sound. By the time she got to Tulalip, she only could see the whale spouting away from the shore. Brooks said the experience is a spiritual one for her.
“I hope it finds its way out. But if this whale is going to die, this seems like a more fitting place,” she said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com
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