Decomposed Whale Lands on North Coast

Experts say an unusual number of sharks are also washing up‏.

Photos of the dead whale and the decomposing porpoise included here were taken by Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium

(GEARHART, Ore.) - One very nasty decomposed whale washed up today on Del Rey Beach – just north of Gearhart.

It was reportedly so decomposed that staff from the Seaside Aquarium had few clues from which to identify it.

Aquarium Manager Keith Chandler guessed it might be a gray whale, although an official from the Marine Mammal Stranding Network at Portland State University said she thought it might be a humpback whale. Chandler thought it could be the dead whale that was seen last week floating about two miles offshore from Depoe Bay.

"The whale was extremely smelly," said Chandler.

They could not get near it today because of high tide. “The last thing you want is that decomposed thing to roll over on you or just touch you, when it’s being knocked around by the tide,” said Boothe.

Boothe and Chandler will attempt to collect flesh and blubber samples from the creature at low tide, which is approximately 10:30 AM.

There is a possibility representatives from the Marine Mammal Stranding Network will come out to investigate as well.

There is no word how it may be disposed of, but odds are that they won't be using dynamite. That lesson learned in Oregon many years ago.

Aquarium staff have also found another dead shark this morning – the sixth in five weeks. There were eight reports of dead sharks on the north coast in the four-week period between July 20th and August 23rd. Two more have been reported washing up since then, including the one today, also found on Del Rey Beach.

Bill Hanshumaker of the Hatfield Marine Science Center, has also reported that an unusual number of dead baby sharks have been washing up on the central coast – about a half dozen.

Boothe says this is highly unusual, as such a high number of dead sharks is never seen in such a short period.

Boothe and Chandler theorized that this year’s warmer waters have brought in more tuna, which in turn have brought in more sharks to the area – thus more will wash up dead.

She recently discovered that one of the first sharks found this summer in late July, in Rockaway – turned out to be Great White. It was previously thought to be a salmon shark.

Boothe sent images of that shark to John Rupp of the Point Defiance Aquarium in Tacoma recently, and he confirmed it was a Great White.

Rupp is one of the more revered experts on sharks on the west coast of the U.S.

Boothe said it's possible the Oregon coast could be experiencing the same spate of dead baby sharks on the central coast, where necropsies have revealed these all had encephalitis.

Seaside Aquarium staff also had to do deal with a dead and severely decomposed porpoise last Friday in Arch Cape, as well as a shark carcass.

More on the sharks (before the confirmation of the Great White) can be seen here: www.beachconnection.net/news/shark082807_311.php More can be found on this subject, and other coastal oddities happening recently, at: www.beachconnection.net/news/wfish083107_1256.php