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Dead blue whale comes ashore again
Carcass fails to sink, washes up in Malibu
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Chuck Kirman / Star staff Frances Gulland, a veterinarian from Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, measures the blue whale on Sept. 22 at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu.
Video: Whale washes ashore
The corpse of a large Blue whale reported to be floating in local waters for several days washes up at a local beach.Watch now »
The dead blue whale that first excited scientists as a rare chance to study the world's largest animal has become a bit of a headache after the carcass didn't sink as biologists had predicted.
The 70-foot mass of rotting flesh washed up onto Broad Beach in Malibu on Sunday afternoon after bobbing in the Santa Barbara Channel for the past week.
Though the whale was promptly towed 11 miles back out to sea, some fear it could wash up on shore again in the near future.
"We just wish the darned thing would sink," said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has been tracking the whale since it was found dead in the channel last month and was towed to a beach on Naval Base Ventura County. Scientists suspect the whale was killed after a collision with a ship. It did not have any signs of domoic acid poisoning or problems from Navy sonar.
After an extensive necropsy on Sept. 22, the intestines were removed and buried on the beach, and large chunks of blubber were sliced off.
The whale was then towed about 10 miles out to sea, where it was expected to sink and be eaten by fish.
Scientists had cut such a large hole on the side of the animal and taken so much mass away, they assumed it would fill up with water and fall to the bottom of the ocean.
It didn't.
It was spotted floating off Santa Cruz and Anacapa islands before drifting back to shore on Sunday. Calls to the lifeguard division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department started pouring in when the carcass was spotted just offshore around 7:15 a.m. Sunday, according to Capt. Dan Atkins.
STORY TOOLS 
More from County NewsIt made landfall about an hour later, bringing with it the putrid stink of 70 tons of rotting flesh.
Lifeguards tied a rope around its tail and dragged it back to sea by boat, said Atkins.
They were careful not to pull too hard for fear of ripping the animal apart.
As it was, oils from the whale had spread about a mile up and down the coast, stinking up Zuma Beach, Atkins said.
When the lifeguards came back to wash their wet suits, it stunk up the whole building, Atkins said.
Cordaro is hoping it won't drift to shore again, but he's not too sure. "It's the whale that won't sink."
Posted by ebrockway on October 2, 2007 at 6:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This the same whale everybody couldn't wait to blame on Navy sonar? Hit by a ship, so guess we should ban shipping in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Posted by sslocal on October 2, 2007 at 8:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why don't they get the Navy to blow the darned thing up. Kinda gross but it would sink.
Posted by lthrnek on October 2, 2007 at 10:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow!! Three big, stupid whales who can talk and hear for miles around them without enough sense to get out of the way of a ship. So lets restrict the speed of ships in the channel right?
Since we kill almost 50,000 human beings with automobiles every year, how about bringing the speed limit back down to 55 miles per hour again. We'll save lives and a ton of gasoline and diesel fuel in the process. While we're at it why not restrict the legal horsepower of automobile engines. Building and selling cars that will go 200 mph plus is foolish, wastefull and deadly.
You won't let me smoke in a bar but you'll sell me legal liquid intoxicants and a deadly car to drive home in. No wonder the world is laughing at us. . .
Posted by DoctorDude on October 2, 2007 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Night of the Living Blue Whales
Posted by star on October 2, 2007 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
2,000 Northern Blue Whales in the world
6,000,000,000 people
Yeah, that's equivalent.
Oh, wait, did I say 2000? I meant 1997.
Posted by 2cusmile on October 2, 2007 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
THE EARTH it is what we all have in common including the blue whale.
Much respect to these creatures.
The lyrics from Nickelback sayes it best( If Everyone Cared)
Imagine what the world could be if everyone cared and nobody cried if everyone loved and nobody lied if everyone shared and swallowed their pride then we'd see the day when nobody died.
Posted by Face on October 2, 2007 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Navy and National Biologists were wrong.. who would ever had guessed that was possible? They cannot even tow away a whale or predict whether it will sink or not.... ironic.
Posted by uknow1 on October 2, 2007 at 4:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Your point is what, ebrock? It is funny how the bioligists who can definitively say it was not sonar that killed the whales, cannot even sink a dead whale like they also definiteivly said...
Posted by baitsoaker on October 2, 2007 at 7:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
star, you are right, it is not equal.
3 dead whales out of 2,000 = .15% of the population
50,000 dead humans out of 6,000,000 = .8% of the population.
So, the death rate of humans in car accidents is more than 5 times that of whales hit by boats. Next time you try to argue, think first.
Posted by SummerSun on October 2, 2007 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Poor whales, I've sailed the Channel Islands for nearly 40 years, and have had close calls with these giant ships in the channel. There speed is WAY to fast, most are from foreign ports, and when trying to radio them (before they run us down) is futile, no one on deck. Autopilot at full speed ahead in our beautiful natural area at it's best (our islands and sea friends) and recreational boaters, and with fog that comes in....it's a recipe for disaster!
I pray no other whales are injured and maimed by these giant killing machines.
Posted by Metalhaid on October 3, 2007 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yecccch.
Posted by inchoate on October 3, 2007 at 1:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
baitsoaker, I think you misplaced a decimal point there; 50,000 is .0008 percent of six billion. Of course, that statistic is a bit misleading, since I think 50,000 represents car-related deaths in the United States only.
The whole argument is immaterial, though, as humans are in no danger whatsoever of becoming extinct. The same cannot, sadly, be said of blue whales.
Posted by Niblack on October 7, 2007 at 11:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, at least with all the humans killing other humans in the world it doesn't seem to have had the effect that humans killing blue whales have in the last 100 years or so. Human beings aren't on an endangered species list like a lot of marine mammals. At least the blue whale isn't going to be responsible for the destruction of it's habitat. We can thank us poor stupid human beings for that one!
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