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A dead sperm whale was towed out to sea Monday afternoon after it washed up around a fishing pier in Deerfield Beach, Fla., and the city's mayor refused to allow a necropsy due to the stench.
“It was quite ripe. They were gagging. Those guys down there were gagging,” Deerfield Beach Mayor Peggy Noland said of paramedics and lifeguards who were near the whale. “So can you imagine what would have happened if they had cut it open? No one would have gone to my beach for two months.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating a report that a swimmer got on top of the whale as it was dying on Sunday off Pompano Beach.
It would have been very useful for scientists to do a necropsy on the whale from both a conservation and a biological perspective, said Blair Mase, NOAA’s southeast regional stranding coordinator. And determining if the animal was killed by human causes is important in terms of management, she said.
But the agency was unable to bring the 30-foot-long animal up on the beach for a thorough examination because the mayor didn’t want a dead whale there, she said.
“That was unfortunate, but we have to work within the confines of the people who take care of our beaches, and that was the mayor today, and so we’re working with that,” Mase said. “And so she was trying to do her job, and we were trying to do ours.”
Noland said she understood that a necropsy would have been scientifically useful.
“I agree 100 percent, but she was not going to cut it up on my beach,” Noland said.
The whale was found at 7:30 a.m., according to Noland.
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“We were afraid it was going to get under the pier because of the waves and stuff, so what they did was tie it under the backhoe, on the sand, for NOAA,” she said.
Noland said they waited two and a half hours for five people from NOAA to arrive. She said she expected the agency would come with equipment to remove the whale for its research – and repeatedly expressed her disappointment that it did not.
Noland said her responsibility is to her residents, businesses and tourists, as the whale washed up next to the fishing pier next to her main beach.
“One of the girls said, ‘if we chop off its head.’ I thought, ‘You got to be kidding me. We’ve got 500 people on the beach,’” Noland said.
She said that if the whale were cut up, it would have been like chum for sharks – and claimed that the stench would have stayed on the beach for a month.
Mase said NOAA’s team was able to take some external measurements, determining that the female sperm whale was 30 feet long. They collected some skin and blubber from the whale, which was very thin and underweight, she said.
Noland said Deerfield Beach paid for a private towing company, Sea Tow, to take the carcass over five miles out in the ocean. She said she hopes it doesn’t show up in Boynton Beach or anywhere else.
But Mase said there is a chance the whale may wash up elsewhere – and if it does, NOAA will try to do a thorough examination to investigate potential causes of death.
Pompano Beach resident Margie Casey said Sunday that she saw two swimmers twice go up to the whale – and took photos of one swimmer getting on the animal.
The swimmers violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act by being within 100 yards of a free-swimming whale, Mase said.
“NOAA Office of Law Enforcement is currently investigating what happened yesterday with the people riding the whale,” she said.
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1. The swimmer could not possibly have killed the whale.
2. Dead, rotting whale carcasses are 100% natural and organic.
3. Drop the subject, since nobody wanted to do a necropsy on the whale, but just towed it out to sea to let it rot some more.
4. Stuff like this happens, but people worried about their money seem to think the world owes them something, but they won't even get an explanation or an apology from the whale, so just move on.
Gotta agree. By pulling it out to sea we're not only cleaning the beach, but also providing food for the miscellaneous animals in the ecosystem. Fish and birds alike.
It just shakens me that it took a week to come to this conclusion. Seems so obvious. Dog dies - bury it. Fish died - flush it. Stupidly large "fish" dies - "flush" it in an eve larger toilet.
A Sperm Whale is not a fish... just say'in...
At least the swimmer did not us a gun......
Doing an autopsy on this whale is more about OUR SAFETY than its own. When animals around us die we NEED to know why. Something capable of killing anything this size should be considered dangerous to us.
getmadstaymad--sorry, but did you not notice that the article said the animal appeared emaciated? The desire of the environmentalists to BLAME its death on someone makes me shake my head. If it had a harpoon sticking out of it, OK, but the likelihood is that either the whale got sick (and I'm SURE whales probably died long before Men got invovled) or it had an encounter with a very large boat--and there is NOTHING we could have done about that.
Regardless, doing a necropsy on the beach/burying it there has been speculated on as a cause for SHARK attacks in other areas that did that because the 'stench'/blood continues to seep into the water for months, which works the Sharks up into a feeding frenzy.
I know you probably don't think humans have the right to be in the ocean, but TRY to have nearly as much compassion for humans as you do for other animals. And sorry, if this had been ONE of 50 dead whales, it might have been an important necropsy for mankind, but NOT with it being just one. If there were something dangerous in the water, there'd have been massive fish kills/other whale deaths.
One dead whale is an accident, old age, or illness.
1. The swimmer could not possibly have killed the whale - are you a whale expert?
I think it is amazing that someone who isn't trained or knowledgable in the science gets to make the decision about what to do. I would think that a federal agency would supercede the mayor's sensitive sense of smell...
Yea, a whale is not a fish (it is a mammal in case you are wondering) and the ocean is not a toilet even though humans think so. I am just sayin too.
And yet they allowed the stench of Jeb Bush & family to nauseate the people of Florida for years. Go figure.
Yeah the swimmer probably did not contribute to the death of the whale BUT he/she still violated federal law. But more important would be finding out why the whale was emaciated - did a human pollutant cause and issue (trach etc) was there a toxin in the enviornment that could harm other mammals (like people) o the local fishing industry. This mayor is extremely short sighted. Wonder if the swimmer was her kid.
It'a @!$%#ing whale who cares? Tow it's stinking ass out to sea and move on.
hey mr warden why dont you STFU?
As for the "smell goes away eventually" theory...hold that thought. I worked on a northwest archeolgical site where we had whale bone artifacts that were several thousand years old. They still stank after all that time. On the same site I had to clean the carcass of a balein whale which had been driven aground on an offshore island. We transported the whale carcass in separate pieces via twin otter float plane back to the main camp. There I boiled the skeleton pieces for over a week to prep for shipment back to the Royal Ontario Museum (trying to mitigate the odor for shipment). While working on this project, I had to eat separately from the rest of the crew...so they did not lose their appetite when I came into the room..so badly did I stink. Towing that carcass out to sea was a practical, neighbourly, and necessary solution, which few people would debate if you ever got close to that stench.
Should do the same thing with your worthless carcase warden.
And yet another unread moron who is dismissive of the natural environment. Definitely a correlation between the two.
"Fish died - flush it. Stupidly large "fish" dies - "flush" it in an eve larger toilet."
Calling a whale a fish lol. What is stupid again?
I feel sad for this whale. They are social animals and being alone, sick and off her main course of travel makes me sad for her. I love these majestic creatures. Best case scenario is that she find her way back out to sea and recovers. Next best would be that she doesn't suffer.
hey mmis: the whale died best case scenario drag it out to the open ocean and let the sharks have a whale of a meal.
MMIS, sorry to have to tell you this, but not too many DEAD whales find their way back out to sea and RECOVER FROM DEATH.
I guess someone could have gotten on top of this whale and plugged up it's air spout. It would have been a long ride and probably at some significant depths but when a human wants to kill a whale what is holding your breath for 30 minutes or more? I am certain that human beings denied this "emaciated" whale any food. Sometimes....believe it or not, some animals, including whales die of natural causes. I know it is hard for some to believe since they want to blame man for everything that they possibly can. They are self loathing and feel that humans are an alien species that has no business taking up space and resources from the other animals.
The stupid fish died beause animal luver and kevin38 @!$%#ed it.
The guy on its back - - - is that Ahab..?
OMG, it's a whale, so what!? Here's your autopsy; It didn't eat enough! It had some dude named Jonah stuck in it's gullet! Get over it!
Oh, and BTW, global warming is bull@!$%# too!
"...because the mayor didn’t want a dead whale there..."
All ya'lls animal lovers til the going gets tough then it's, 'screw science, we don't want to be inconvenienced.' The whale riding allegation should go out the window too.
Next time send an 18 wheeler and they can do the science in your backyard. You can be part of the solution instead of an inactive blamer. 'sure stink up the whole entire town, my place, no my neighbors wouldn't like that but definitely do it on the beach because I live in Kansas and my neighbors wont care'
I'd love to have a dead sperm whale in my front yard. We do need to know what killed it. The smell goes away eventually. Dead whales are part of the ecosystem.
Sure, months later.
With a state like Florida, without state income tax,that relies on tourism for a big chunk of its revenue, the stench would deliver a blow that could shut down some of local small businesses due to the unwillingness of people wanting to gag on the stench while they ate lunch.
Would you be saying the same thing if you owned an eatery downwind from this?
How inconvenient to those business folks was that whale?
Seriously though, how big is the tourist industry in FL at this time of the year anyway?
The carcass is always removed after a necropsy. I live in Florida and pay taxes here. It's not news to me that we rely on tourism for a 'big chunk of...revenue.' As a native of the state of Florida whose roots go back for centuries, it's concerning when we lose a large marine mammal. For the single sperm whale that washed up on the beach there could be 100 more that died at sea. It's important that we learn what killed it.
It's time to enact a state income tax. I'd love to see people leave and retire elsewhere. A thousand people move here every week. It's too much growth. The aquifers are strained, the roads are full and the air's polluted. With the sea rising you don't want to move here. Go somewhere else.
You're kidding, right?
This is the time of the year when all the snow birds start arriving. Florida generates more income than you care to admit during the winter months.
Yes it is. Florida can not rely on tourism forever. Every year, it costs more and more to vacation there. Eventually, tourists will get fed up with having to fund the state.
I don't see people not retiring there there. The weather is too inviting for the people up north. After 50 years of shoveling snow, they are ready to cut grass in December.
Don't forget what happened in Japan, a few years back. They found a dead whale, scientists put it on an 18 wheeler, or Japan's version of an 18 wheeler, to transport it to a lab. In the middle of town, the whale exploded. The gases, from the decaying flesh, filled the inside of the whale, until the carcass couldn't take it, and it exploded. The explosion sent blood and rotting flesh, all over town, and the smell was terrible. It took a long time and a lot of money, to clean up the mess. "Keep America Beautiful," Tow dead marine life out to sea.
thanks peridot - a true voice of reason. We do have to care about the deaths of these magnificent animals and for the reasons you mentioned and then some. Where was the rest of the pod? Dont they normally travel in big groups? Why was there a harpoon sticking out of her?? Was this a "sport" killing? Obviously these questions have to be answered, and how naive and stupid of they mayor not to understand this. Reminds me of the mayor in "Jaws" that didnt close the beach because it was tourist season. If they had of done their research on this poor dead creature, maybe it could have prevented more dying and/or possibly washing up on the same beach. Karma is a bitch,right?
"All ya'lls animal lovers"
Perfect example of the kind of people who are dismissive of animals and/or the environment. Low grade educated slobs.
Sure, months later.
How the do you and this greedy, narrow minded, idiot of a mayor know this?
"why was there a harpoon sticking out of her"....did we read the same story???Saw no mention of the harpoon. Might have precluded the need for a necropsy if it was that evident.
you are right-no mention of harpoon in article- I read MoMaid 1.5 too fast thinking he had read another article that mentioned a harpoon. What he said was 'what IF a harpoon had been sticking out of her"? My bad...
UncleBen, you make it sound like a bomb. It wasn't! The whale did rupture and some of its innards did spill out on some cars and people who were right by the trailer. There was no "blood and rotting flesh, all over town." I am sure it did stink though.
Just for the record, the whale in Japan was also a sperm whale.
I watched a documentary during Shark Week on Discovery and it stated that Marine Biologists believe that Great Whites congregate at whale carcasses and gorge themselves and use the opportunity to breed. From what I saw it definitely turns the sharks on. As far as the "exploding" whale, it did blow pretty good from the gases caused by the whale's decomposition. It did not leave rotting flesh all over town but it did spray more than a few cars and people close by. It actually covered store fronts with blood and guts as well as any cars and people nearby. It was a pretty impressive explosion. I just thank God I was not there when she blew!
Is there any indication as to how old this whale was? Because last time I checked, whales weren't immortal. You would think that the NOAA would be able to quickly determine the age of the whale, and if it was an old whale, maybe it would be more prudent to just put a nice little section in the obits about how the whale loved to do crossword puzzles and play bingo on Wednesdays.
Think of the opportunity though you could have bellowed out ' thar she blows'
Good quick common sense call by this Mayor. Do you want another stink job Mayor Noland? Tow all the bureacrats holding the country hostage near a fiscal cliff out to sea as well. When they are dead as well let the sharks feast.
Sharks won't eat bureaucrats...professional courtesy. One predator to another ya know
Bureaucrats? Oh, you must mean public servants, at least that's what we used to call them before hate speech jocks took over radio. Understanding why large mammals especially die is important to safeguarding the health of the sea, including the coast, including, ahem, MY beach! (It is even rumored by scientists that we are large mammals!) When those same "bureaucrats" forecast hurricanes or study red tide or measure fish catch or assist stranded boaters, oh, then they're the good guys, huh, because they serve at your personal pleasure and profit.
...and the irrelevant segue into politics by the political troll diverts the thread from the topic of the whale.
S. Williams--nice sentiment, but in that case, WHY didn't the marine biologists locate this whale days ago, and study it then? It is NOT 'personal pleasure or profit' to NOT want children/adults who swim in the area to NOT be in danger of shark attacks because the smell of a dead whale lingers in the area for months.
PS--if a deer were to die in your alley, and no one noticed it for so long that picking it up physically to haul it off for a necropsy would result in offal, blood and guts seeping into the ground around your barbeque pit, You'd be pretty annoyed too.
And if the authorities, after cutting it up, decided to BURY it right there, do you NOT think wild dogs and other critters would not keep digging it up? Causing even more stench to be released into your back yard?
A little common sense will make you realize that even if a hunter shot the deer, or a car hit it (and lord knows, I've hit two myself) it is probably not worth the bad results for that to be done, no matter how badly you'd like to NAIL the person who might have caused it to die.
The same is true of this whale--no matter how indignant people are of the guys who supposedly 'rode it', that does NOT make it OK to cause immeasurable damage to an entire community in a (probably) vain attempt to try to BLAME those swimmers for its death, when all likelihood, the whale was DYING when they encountered it.
MOmaid, you need a drink or something.
BTW, the environmentalists are not BLAMING anyone for this death, but I do see NOAA scientists trying to figure out why it died with no cooperation from the Mayor. The stench would not be around for months.
Those swimmers most likely did not cause this animal to die, but arguably, hastened its death. Further, they broke the law: humans are not to harass a free swimming whale. Getting on it is harassment (the same way YOU would think that an unknown human climbing on top of you when ill was harassment, yes??)
You state that there is nothing dangerous in the water. Oh, that could make me laugh all day and night for weeks. Let me fill you in, the dangerous thing in the water is us, humans. We have nearly driven whales to the brink of extinction, we have over fished and out fished the oceans, we use the ocean as a plastics dump and too much carbon in the atmosphere is causing acidification of the ocean waters. Need I go on?
Nothing dangerous in the water in Florida, MOmaid? We have our share of dangers in the water. We have alligators in fresh water. Dangers in Florida salt waters: tiger sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks, ocean whitetip sharks, black tip sharks and reef sharks. We have great white sharks passing through as well, although there's never been a great white attack reported in our waters. Yet.
Why didn't the whale get located days ago? Whales are wild animals. They can only be necropsied on dry land after they have died.
He sounds like the Mayor in Jaws.
*she
Mayor Vaughn in Jaws was ignoring a rampaging Great White shark that had killed people. Here, all we have is a stinky dead whale that appears to have died of natural causes.
It absolutely did NOT appear to die of natural causes, the knowledgeable scientists thought there was injury or illness. That's why a necropsy would have been so helpful.
Then I'm sure the woman who took videos of the men supposedly trying to ride it will DONATE that film to the marine biologists to study for clues from the whale's behavior.
What's that? NO? She's holding out for the highest paycheck for the footage to try to screw the two guys?
NOOO--say it isn't so!!!
Really, time out. Go get that drink and calm yourself down. The hostility is unreal and where the H*** is it coming from?
Chris, Lora, we won't know whether its death was natural or not until a necropsy is performed.
You're damn right she wants that rotting whale carcass off her beach. It's the height of winter season for Florida's tourist trade. These coastal towns need a strong tourist presence during the winter months so they can raise tax revenues to get them through the lean months when the snowbirds go home. Tourists don't go to beaches that smell like dead fish. They'll drive a little north or a little south to a fresher locale. The mayor has acted appropriately since there is nothing to suggest that the whale died of anything other than natural causes.
Sounds a little like...
I don't think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things. It's all psychological. You yell 'Barracuda,' everybody says 'Huh? What?' You yell 'Dead Whale,' we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.
Thats some bad hat harry
My fav line from that movie "We're gonna need a bigger boat"
Janine, did you know your favorite line wasn't even in the script? He ad libbed one of the most known lines in film history.
Bogarts "Here's looking at you kid" was improv as well.
I can't even believe this article made the news. Do they think they might have found Jonah in there, or what.
And you read it and then even took the time to comment, LOL........
I didn't realize riding a sperm whale is against the law. Will have to scratch that one off my bucket list.
was Moby 'Dick' a sperm whale?? just curious
Yep, white sperm whale
It's illegal to interfere with any marine mammal. Leave them alone, don't feed or play with them or face Federal fines and jail time. These laws cover every sea mammal from sea otters to blue whales. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
PWD--don't worry, if the whale had been healthy, there is no way you could have 'riden it'. IF it even tolerated your presence as it ZIPPED past at way too fast for you to catch it, it certainly would not have allowed you to hop on.
All the more reason to leave it alone, ya think? Anything about respect for other life forms in there?
Oh I see. It's HER beach.
That was my thought too...
I thought it was everyone's beach...
That's right, it is HER town, along with the the people that live in HER town and make their living off of the income they get from people that vacation in HER town. Animals die, just like people. You're born, you live, and then you die. Had this been the fiteenth or twentieth sperm whale that washed up, maybe there would've been a reason for scientists to be there researching it. I'm sure if the mayor had seen that many sperm whales wash up on the beach, that would've been a valid concern, and she probably would've then allowed an investigation as to why that many whales were showing up dead. But, it was one whale. The mayor called a company to come out and tow the whale out to sea at the town's expense. NOAA could've just as easily done that and towed it somewhere where they could've done their research. The difference between the mayor and NOAA is that the mayor was thinking of the best interests of all people (townfolk, tourists, NOAA), while NOAA thought only of themselves and their research.
its the mayors job to care for the beach and make sure it's not covered in rotting whale guts......HELLO....
I thought it was the taxpayers beach.
They don't leave the mess on the beach after the necropsy, for cryin' out loud.
Lora--no, they don't. they BURY it ON the beach. Waves continue to wash in, and seep back out, as does the blood, guts, (and their contents!) rotting flesh, etc., and in the past, beaches with a buried carcass see an uptick in the number of sharks in the water off shore who are attracted to the smell, and confused by it (sharks DON't, for the most part, like to EAT people) and attack anything in the water.
Meanwhile, for months afterward the smell on the beach makes it nearly inhabitable.
That's a heavy price for a town to pay.
The mayor made the right decision.
MOmaid "in the past, beaches with a buried carcass see an uptick in the number of sharks in the water off shore who are attracted to the smell." Please provide your references.
"Oh I see. It's HER beach." - Mr Binkie
In a way it it is. It's an acceptance of one's responsibility for something.
I often refer to the $23,000,000 piece of equipment I'm responsible for as "my..." Of course LITERALLY it is not.
I care about the whale.
So do I.
Even though I'm sure that the guy who rode the whale didn't kill it, it sure as hell didn't make it feel any better. Poor thing man.....
I care about the whale too
Folks, we ALL care about the whale. SOME of us just ALSO care about the people who live in the area.
And unless the video of the guy 'riding' the whale is so poor there is no way to ID him, my guess is he has already given the authorities an explanation for his behavior, such as trying to see if the whale's blow hole was clogged or something, that they have decided to drop it.
MOmaid, there is so much assumption in your posts it is unbelievable. You do not know if there is no way to ID the swimmer, you are GUESSING that the swimmer has turned himself in and explained himself, you even are GUESSING as to why he approached this whale and you are GUESSING that the authorities have dropped it.
And upon what exactly do you make these assertions? Stop already.
Me too.
MOmaid:
Seriously? Do you think they bought it?
I think we all need to step on Momaids blowhole to see it IT's clogged!
Not enough sea men for the sperm whale.
Its her beach?
its the mayors job to care for the beach and make sure it's not covered in rotting whale guts......HELLO....
It was most thoughtful of the Mayor not to want the dead whale on HIS beach. He most be a most generous person to own a nice beach and share it with the local townspeople and tourists. Or, I wonder if the deed to the beach goes along with being elected by the people. What happens to the beach when he leaves office, will he take it with him or is the Mayor just a pompous ass.?
its the mayors job to care for the beach and make sure it's not covered in rotting whale guts......HELLO....
The mayor's a woman. Thanks for sharing in sexism.
Carry on.
Deep diving whale,oil under the water,whale eating oil,dead whale.
I wish they could ID the swimmers who tried to climb on the whale as it was possibly dying-or perhaps they even caused the death--don't these people have any respect? The whale deserves respect as a living species and not having two idiotic water cowboys harassing the whale and climbing on it--find them and put them in jail for awhile, but before that put their photos and a story up on the internet about them-----
Seems like the whale was dead either way so what's the big deal?
I can not see myself jumping up on an animal like that unless I had a death wish because if it were still alive it could kill you.
It would be good to see them prosecuted.
Peridot, IF the two men were actually 'harassing' the whale, and NOT (even if misguidedly) trying to help it, then they probably should face a fine.
IS that enough for you, or do you want them drawn and quartered?
The big deal is ethics and respect.
The Dev - so what? What the swimmer did is violation of Federal law. If we (society) ignores the violation of laws because no one was hurt or that the result didn't do any harm - where does it stop. Maybe in a 100 years because we ignore little laws now bigger laws will be ignored than.
MOmaid, again, go read the law. What does it say? In context of the law, did the swimmers break it or not? Yes or no?
The full extent of the law for harassment of a marine mammal, fine and prison.
Drawing and quartering? No, I'm not a Republican, I'm a Marine Biologist.
peridot- i am seriously in love with ALL of your answers. Thank you thank you. Will you marry me?
To the mayor....it is NOT YOUR beach. Another politician with a big ego...."my beach" and a more concerned abut money and tourist than the oceans that draw the crowd. And yes I come from a tourist area but we deal with our envirnmental issues differently and sanely. Chalk another one up for FLA!
wow...a little angry about something? It's not her beach but she is in charge of keeping it nice and free of rotting whale guts....
There was nothing to indicate the whale died an unnatural death, and not every dead whale can be the subject of a necropsy. The mayor agreed that NOAA could measure the carcass and take samples from it. If NOAA really wanted the whole whale, it could have agreed to take possession of it and remove it from the beach to its own facilities for further examination. Apparently that was beyond NOAA's desire or power, and the mayor was under no obligation to allow an in situ necropsy which would have fouled the beach for months. Floridians may have trouble with hanging chads, but we keep the beaches pretty clean.
If researchers wanted the whale they should have taken it while they had the chance.
If it's really, really, important that the necropsy be done, NOAA can go pick up the sperm whale, load it on one of their vessels and have at it out to sea where it won't spell up the beach. But I'm guessing that it's not important enough for them to bother with that...
Assuming they have a large enough vessel in the area.....oh and one designed to haul a 30 ft whale on board....
Us and them,
"Moby Dick" was a sperm whale and a full grown sperm whale is one Impressive thing to see free swimming in the ocean. I've seen more than a few off the Grand banks of Newfounland and in the Pacific around the equator. A thirty foot sperm whale seems to me to be a small one and probably immature since the ones I've seen have been between fifty and sixty feet long and just massive things! I understand the want to do some reasearch on the dead whale..but it's a true stretch for them to immediately jump to human causes for it's death.
That ocean is brutal and just a vast and wild place and that whale could have come from anywhere around the globe since they are highly migratory and the cause of it's death could have come from a thousand different directions. Plus if it were something done by man I would think it would have shown external evidence of that and it sounds to me that they had plenty of time to look it over.
Us and Them, not necessarily. If this animal was making a diet of plastic, the ocean is full of it, this animal would not have shown external evidence of that. However, it was noted that it was emaciated and eating plastic would certainly cause it to starve to death or otherwise jack up the digestive system. Since a necropsy was not performed we will not know conclusively what caused it to die and it remains a matter of speculation (and apparently hostility and argument on this blog).
Could be a female they average around 36 ft.
Hunt, "it's a true stretch for them to immediately jump to human causes for it's death" is quite true. In the original article no one said that the humans actually caused the whale to die, only that it was possible that they may have directly contributed to the death. Without a necropsy we will never know, for sure, what killed this whale.
How can you ride a dead whale? And if the whale is dead it is not a free swimming whale....
It was not dead yet.
And who in their effing right mind climbs on top of a dead whale?
What a waste of time and $$. It's a dead fish who gives a sh!t.
Dev - IT IS NOT A FISH -- a fish is cold blooded, has scales, lays eggs. A Mammal is warm blooded has hair/fur rather than scales, gives birth to live young and nurtures their offspring by nursing them. WHy this whale is improtant and why it would have been nice to know what killed it is what is in the enviornment that caused it to die, whatever it is if it is toxic it could conceivably be in the human food chain. Get the connection, get why finding out what kills these animals is important.
Too bad NOAA didn't have the funds to do the tow and work on it at sea...or were they too busy? How about a Marine Biologist or Marine Veterinarian(?) offer to help? With all the apparent concern over the decline of the health of our oceans and the marine life within...where were all the tree huggers, ecology freaks...or were they too busy?! Maybe nobody was really interested because they were too busy with preparations for the holidays!!!
WHATEVER! OPPORTUNITY LOST!
First it would be either or both a Marine Biologist or a Vet specializing in Marine Mammals ( alot of both of these experts work for NOAA) doing the necroscopy. I also am pretty sure doing the necroscopy at sea would be extremely dangerous, and I doubt Her Honor the Mayor would like that done off her beach (as somone pointed out can you say shark). You are right they probably are strapped for funds - this is the type of agency the Republicans want to cut (that is my political comment for this piece).
It's nearly impossible to necropsy a whale at sea. It must be done on a beach or dry land so that heavy equipment can pull open the large cavity of the body. Otherwise crews of 30-50 or more would be required to handle the enormously heavy internal organs of the massive animal.
I have lived in Florida for 55 years and i have never seen a Whale in our waters in all that time.
Global Warming anyone?
Save the stinky dead whale!
Sperm whale? Hmmm...
"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!" - Captain Ahab, Moby Dick
NOAA should get the Coast Guard to tow it off shore and then have someone take care of it.