Scientists working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration want to know how an endangered whale ended up dead in the Port of Long Beach.
Authorities discovered the 40-foot carcass of a juvenile fin whale floating in the harbor Wednesday night.
Thursday morning, a small crew of researchers and biologists arrived in Long Beach to try to figure out what happened. At this point, they suspect a container ship hit the whale in the open ocean and dragged it all the way to the docks.
Experts won’t be towing away whale today. But they hope to do so tomorrow and perform necropsy. Preliminary exam shows it’s a juvenile fin whale about 40 feet long. pic.twitter.com/LEzFW2XAPB
— Jeremiah Dobruck (@jeremiahdobruck) December 28, 2017
Fin whales are commonly sighted along the West Coast, but it’s bizarre for the mammal to turn up in the busy port, according to the group of experts.
“They don’t go in the harbor,” said Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a whale researcher working with NOAA.
According to Schulman-Janiger, it’s likely that the young whale got stuck on the bulbous bow of a massive container ship, which then carried it into the port.
“That’s almost certainly why it’s here,” said Schulman-Janiger as she looked through binoculars at the carcass floating a few hundred feet offshore where crews had tied it to a dock.
In 30 years studying whales, Schulman-Janiger said she’s never seen a live fin whale swim into the Long Beach Port.
“Mostly likely it was killed yesterday, most likely brought in on a ship,” Schulman-Janiger said.
The dead mammal turned up around 7 p.m. in a remote area of the harbor near Pier T, according to authorities. At the request of NOAA, firefighters secured the carcass so it wouldn’t float off.
Thursday morning, the researchers arrived to get a closer look and cut off small samples of skin and blubber, but to determine the exact cause of death the scientists want to get their hands on the entire carcass.
“Ideally we will tow it to a beach and cut it up,” said whale biologist Bernardo Alps.
The scientists are working on finding a remote sandy shoreline where they can take the whale and drop it at high tide some time on Friday.
Once the water recedes and the body is sitting on the sand, the group can perform a necropsy and determine whether a blow from a ship killed the mammal.
For now, the carcass will stay tied to its dock at least overnight.
Fin whales are the second largest whale, according to Schulman-Janiger. They can grow up to about 80 feet she said.
This whale was likely just old enough to separate from its mother, according to Schulman-Janiger.
Although they’re endangered, fin whales have recently been recovering off of the West Coast where they live year-round, according to the experts.
Just this week, a group of them was feeding in an area about five or 10 miles away from the port, Schulman-Janiger said. Twenty years ago, that would have been unheard of, she said.
The scientists hope that closely examining this whale can teach them more about the species returning to the area and help them evaluate the safety of nearby shipping lanes.
After the necropsy, the carcass will be towed out to sea where nature can dispose of it, according to Schulman-Janiger.
“It’s best to just recycle the whale,” she said.
