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Nick Ut / AP
People look at a dead young male fin whale that washed ashore between the Paradise Cove and Point Dume areas of Malibu, Calif., last week.
Fed up with the stench of a decaying whale carcass that washed up on a Malibu beach -- and with the inaction of government officials -- a local homeowners association took matters into its own hands and hired a tugboat that pulled the body out to sea late Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The 40-foot fin whale washed up between Paradise Cove and Point Dume, near the homes of celebrities including Barbra Streisand and Bob Dylan.
The whale appeared to have been hit by a ship and had a gash on its back and a damaged spine, according to the results of a necropsy by the California Wildlife Center. It was already dead when it washed ashore.
The whale carcass was left decaying for several days while government officials argued over whose responsibility it was to remove it.
Shark bait? Rotting whale on Malibu beach raises fear
"We have not yet been informed of any removal plans," Malibu spokeswoman Olivia Damavandi told NBC News Friday morning.
Burying the carcass on the beach, carving it up and setting the pieces on fire and towing it out to sea where among the removal methods considered, the Times reported.
On Thursday, authorities said towing the carcass to sea was no longer feasible because it was too decomposed.
But Fire Inspector Brian Riley told the newspaper a homeowners association hired a private tugboat to remove the remains, which were reportedly carried off about 20 miles offshore.
Fin whales are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. They can grow to up to 85 feet, weigh up to 80 tons and live for up to 90 years.
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Leave a Comment:
Wow - with the high profile landowners, passing the hat to remove the carcass should have been a no-brainer. Forget the gov't, they just want to point fingers drag their feet. Except! As a regular citizen who wants to walk on the "private" beach - the police will be there in a flash to remove you.
Too Funny, people with 50 million in the back EACH sweating putting $1,000 in a community fund pool to remove a dead fish. The richer they are the tighter the crack of their A.
Making those "job creators" pay for removal of that whale is just another example of the "class warfare" being waged on them. I bet if that whale washed up in Compton Jesse and Al would have been there with the "lame stream media" asking for taxpayers to fund it's removal! (sarcasm) $1000 to those folks that live there is about what they spend on a night out.
Nice troll Devil, I guess you got off suspension.........
Yea but you can always hope. I guess I just had a GOP moment.
IXLR8, a whale is a mammal, not a fish!! Still important to know which local agency had responsibility to remove the health hazard of a rotting carcass. The agency should be required to reimburse the HOA. If the situation were reversed, you can bet the government would have already billed the HOA.
@ Devil
Thanks for a great laugh... made my day :))
CME, the whale was on a private beach. Why shouldn't the HOA be responsible? Other residents of Malibu don't get to enjoy that stretch of beach, why should they pay to maintain it. If I had a decaying animal in my backyard, t would be my responsibility to remove it. If I didn't, the Board of Health would be contacting me real soon!
Whoa! that'd really be something to see if a whale washed up in Compton.....(please check map)
The government has no obligation to clean up a private beach. Even so, "authorities said towing the carcass to sea was no longer feasible." The homeowners then had it towed .... two days later. Just another example of private enterprise taking care of a job the government is incapable of handling.
I did please check the (sarcasm) tag.
They keep saying it is a private beach but the law in California states that the beach is public up to the "Mean High Tide Level". The whale is clearly below that. The common practice is to bury the whales remains right where it sits in California. Only in certain cases is it towed out to sea. They did tow one out a couple years back at Doheny beach.
Why didn't they haul Barbara Streisand 20 miles out to sea and dump her? Talk about a stinking rotting carcass!
Levity, That would be polluting to a degree that is unacceptable. She needs to be dumped in a toxic waste site.
.
DEVIL'S SON, I think you might be wrong about what "Comptom Jesse and Al would do. They most likely would have gotten a truckload of watermelons and had themselves and a few of their friends a picnic!!!
Racist much?
Good job, homeowners association!
I am saddened, however by the death of the whale itself, and the fact that my blow-up-the-whale-on-the-bikini-beach movie shall never be made (although everyone else is probably grateful that it won't be).
+1 to that one, long live the exploding whale. :)
Wow. Search Youtube for "Oregon's Exploding Whale".
Really? Looking at the picture, just take a large front end loader and load it into a long 18 wheeler dump truck and be done with it. Not much left now that' it's rotted.
And take it where? Spoken like another clueless Texan.
The homeowners did the best/right thing!
Was that necessary, Steve? While I agree dumping the carcass out at sea was the best option, Ryan's suggestion had some potential, too. It could have been trucked to a fertilizer plant. It could have been sent to a landfill to help with the composting process. Heck, they could have trucked it to Friday Harbor and had the Sea Shepherds pay to bury it.
So you see Steve, there were lots of places to take it to if you're willing to think out of the box.
Next time, don't be so quick to play the stereotypical bigot card.
about freaking time!!! LMAO.... How many rich oceanfront land owners does it take to remove a whale carcass......
sorry It just sounds like a set up for a bad joke. I am glad that they pulled their heads out of the sand and did something about it.
Lol that made the city look bad
Well how NBC is going to continue doing daily stories about the whale now? I hope they followed it out to sea.
Unfortunately YOU didn't follow it out to sea...
Somehow I'm thinking a decline in participation might be coming in the Malibu chapter of the Save the Whales organization.
It's is CA, the local Chapter would be "Save the Bales".
Help restore the square grouper habitat.
Isn't this what the Republicans have been screaming for? Take care of your own problem. Funny, it only seems to apply when the people they are talking about are middle class. The rich are the ones who are wedded to the government tit.
Funny...some people just have to politicize everything. Grow up and get a life, Warren.
Well, if it is a private beach, it would be the responsibility of the homeowners assc. or private individual to remove. Regardless of income or wealth.
If a deer stumbled into someones yard after being hit by a car, it would be their responsibility to deal with it. This is really no different, just a larger animal.
It would be even funnier if Barbra Streisand and Bob Dylan were Republicans.
It's a private beach and most of these multi-million dollar homes are people's second houses. I believe they will be ok chipping in a couple grand to have a tugboat pull a rotting carcass from their private beach.
It is NOT a private beach. No such thing in California. It is public up to the high water mark. (High Tide)
This is just another example of our stupid local, city and state officials trying to decide "whose job it's not"...
Dumb ass's
Dumb ass's
Don - before you call other people "Dumb ass's", perhaps you should learn how to spell it so that you can't be considered one of them. It's "dumb asses".
but don't forget to pay your taxes...time for a change in your local gov't
Tired of waiting for "BIG GOVERNMENT" to act ? It's your "private beach".....The owners should have to deal with it . Otherwise they couldn't really call it "private" now could they ... BTW making a beach private is bullsh!t in my opinion
Tell me about it. And can you believe the neighbors get upset when dogs decide to leave their deposits of organic fertilizer on their "private " lawns. Sheese, you think they pay taxes or something.
It's good for those 1%ers. Enjoy that liberal government inaction you prefer in California. They waste time arguing and pointing fingers while saying "that's not my job". Suprised the homeowners didn't hire a union firm that cost $100,000 to tow it to another beach and dump it.
So you are "self inflicted".
Re "authorities said towing the carcass to sea was no longer feasible because it was too decomposed.": what "authorities"? Stupid Democratic government.
Too bad the whale was hit by a ship. Probably a mega-freighter loaded with containers full of silly string, plastic Christmas trees and Chinese drywall.
Next the government will come along and say they didn't have the proper permit to tow it away and fine them for illegal dumping.
And being California it is rich Democrats on that beach not Republicans. Funny how Democrats and liberals have no problem making money if you are in entertainment or politics but heaven forbid if you make money selling or providing any actual goods or services.
Economy - Until you commented, "illegal dumping" hadn't crossed my mind. BUT - I absolutely believe that you are correct (whether or not you were being sarcastic....)
After living in Washington State, I also have no doubt that SOMEONE out there will sue whoever disturbed the resting place of the whale, "on behalf of the whale's relatives". Idiots.
I like that idea. I'm gonna call my lawyer.
Perhaps you don't read much. The loser of the 2012 election is living in La Jolla California. I was just in Orange County two months ago. I was astounded at how many "@!$%#t On ME" for president stickers I saw in Laguna Beach.
While people debate over who's responsibility it is to remove this, the people said the heck with this and got rid of it themselves. Now when they finally figure out who's responsibility it is they should have to reimburse the homeowners association, lol.
The only poor loser in this story is the Whale
That's actually a pretty good point.
I hope it didn't damage the ship!
If it washed ashore to begin with, couldn't it just do it again...?
We can only hope!
I'm amused. The rotting whale is totally all natural and organic. So are the sharks in the water just offshore. It is cute that people with money always seem to want things to be perfect around them, but seldom care whether those of us without our own private beach can even buy supper or pay the mortgage. I hope more whales continue to wash up on that beach for many years.
mathuin - your heart is in the right place, but let's not wish for more dead whales. They are already endangered as it is. It would be better if that beach were in the direct path of rubble washing ashore from the tsunami in Japan. That way, no whales die but the rich homeowners are still inconvenienced.
Malibu? That stench isn't from the dead whale, it's from Charlie Sheen's unwashed groin (darn weekend whores).
Oh no! The rich beachfront owners had to pay for the whale being towed out to sea. Does anyone else really feel bad for these wealthy homeowners that had to spare some pocket change to move the whale?
Those pesky "authorities" who know so much. Congrats to the HOA for getting the job done.
One of these Fin whales was struck in the head by a propeller (Norfolk Naval Station nearby, as is the major shipping area for container ships) and washed up on a beach here in Norfolk, VA, Ocean View beach within the last year.
After several days, and a burst in sight-seers, the whale was buried on the spot.
I don't know how deep they buried it.
Is that Kirstie Alley ?
Wow...that's just mean, man. (and I feel terrible laughing at it, I am a horrible person).