On Saturday evening, May 22, the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network received a report from the U.S. Coast Guard of a decomposed whale carcass that had been sighted by helicopter about a mile offshore from Waldport. The following morning the carcass was sighted on the beach just north of Beachside State Park.
Members of the stranding network responded and found a 40 foot male gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) in an advanced state of decomposition. Photographs and measurements were collected and limited sampling of tissues was done. It is believed that the animal had been dead for approximately a week and there were no clear indications of the cause of death. The carcass was buried on site on Tuesday, May 24.
You can view pictures of the whale at the Marine Mammal Institute's Facebook Page.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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