A Dead Humpback Whale Washes Up on the Mendocino County Coast
For the third time this year, a dead whale has washed up on the Mendocino County coast. Yesterday morning, a deceased humpback whale was discovered in the waters off of Fort Bragg.
Elaine Tavelli, a resident of Fort Bragg, was on the coastal trail when down below she noticed the carcass of what clearly is a humpback whale.
Tavelli told us she was biking along the Fort Bragg coastal trail when she saw others pointing towards the animal. Two rangers passed by her and also confirmed the animal to be a humpback whale.
We are choosing to withhold the exact location to mitigate onlookers as marine biologists and researchers determine the next steps with the whale.
One of the key visual cues that the animal is a humpback whale is the obvious Ventral pleats, the parallel Lines that run from underneath the animal’s mouth to its navel allowing the throat to expand as sea water rushes in during feeding.
On May 17, 2022, a rare, beaked whale washed up on the shores near Jug Handle State Reserve in Fort Bragg.
On July 29, 2022, A sperm whale washed up deceased on Portuguese beach near the coastal town of Mendocino.
Sarah Grimes, The Noyo Center’s Stranding Coordinator, told us her comments are limited at this time but did acknowledge having received reports of the deceased whale.
The discovery of this humpback whale off the waters of Fort Bragg comes one week after a mother humpback whale was found dead at the Point Reyes national seashore, approximately 150 south of Fort Bragg. A necropsy is currently being performed as investigators work to determine the whale’s cause of death.
Though the humpback whale’s cause of death has yet to be determined, researchers have found ship strikes are the leading cause of death for whales migrating along the Pacific Coast. Reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle quotes scientists and conservationists are advocating that containerships and oil tankers that use the coast as their shipping lane voluntarily slow their speed to allow the ocean going mammals time to get out of the way.
Humpback Whales include many subspecies, including the California/Oregon/Washington stock seen in the waters of the North Coast. Analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates the population off our coast is growing 8.2% per year.
If any members of the public find a dead animal washed up on the shores of Mendocino County, report them to Noyo Center’s Stranding Coordinator, Sarah Grimes at (707)-813-7925. If a live marine mammal in distress is located, contact the Marine Mammal Center at (415)-289-SEAL or for Del Norte/Humboldt Counties call the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center at (707) 951-4722.
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As the oceans continue to warm and fill with human pollution they become less able to support marine life of all kinds.
“Analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates the population off our coast is growing 8.2% per year.”
Seems to disprove your theory in this case
WRONG
Does anyone know what happened to the nuclear subs the navy dumped off the coast of Fort Bragg from WWII?
We had nuclear subs in World War II?
No thats not correct
“ Though the humpback whale’s cause of death has yet to be determined, researchers have found ship strikes are the leading cause of death for whales migrating along the Pacific Coast. ”
Hmm.. and eureka welcomes cruise ships with open arms?
I just read an article that said the world’s largest shipping company have changed their shipping routes to limit ship strikes on whales
As whale populations return in greater numbers we should see more dead ones too eventually. Each whale alive today will die at some point. I’m just hoping for old age over ship strikes.
Covid got another one.
Covid my ass. One look at the photo is all that’s needed to know this is obviously a fentanyl overdose. Stomach is probably full of wrapped kilos it was smuggling from Mexico. One of the packages must have broken open. A few shots of narcan should take care of it.
Robo whales, what will they think of next.
I’m sure it’s tangled up in one of those damn recreational crabber’s rope!
HIT BY A SHIP ?
Everything is connected. !. A huge volume of shipping containers bringing consumer products to our shores from overseas. Rubber ducks et al. Contributing to more ship strikes of marine mammals. 2. Most carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere in 2021 than ever in human history leading to a global warming trend in the atmosphere and the ocean. 3. Human population continuing to grow exponentially resulting in huge resource consumption on the finite planet. Whales are becoming the canaries in the coal mine in our climate changing world.
“Human population continuing to grow exponentially”
Not true, human population growth rate is not only not exponential, it is declining (was 2% 50 years ago, down to 1% now). Worldwide, as poverty declines and more women get more educated, they tend to have fewer babies.
Re: your point 2, any links you have proving your assertion would be appreciated. Over 100s of millions of years of climate data has shown that co2 rise normally follows temperature rise, not vice versa. We know from 4 decades of satellite data that earth is 10% greener from rising co2, which is a wonderful thing.
Re: ocean heating, ocean rise after ice ages is huge and fast, our current ocean rise is miniscule, around 2 mm/year.
We don’t know exactly how much earth is heating but if ocean rise is an indicator then the answer is not much. We also don’t know how much role co2 plays in earth heating. We do know that when the earth has been warm, mankind has prospered and when earth cools we suffer.
That just about covers it. Thank you!
It’s what the condors used to eat.