Rarely seen blue whale carcass washes ashore near beach

Motorists travelling on Highway 101 near Gold Beach in southern Oregon on Monday were met with a surprising sight: a 78-foot (24-metre) blue whale carcass stretched across the beach.

Though gray whales occasionally turn up on Oregon beaches when they die, it’s rare to find blue whales. Most of the whales Mate has been tracking for the past two years have not been doing well.

“The best way for this is to actually burn it. So, we dug a fairly deep hole – we talked to DEQ air quality – they’ve given us the go ahead to actually burn the whale oil”. He said there were what appeared to be bite marks that indicate it may have been killed by an orca.

Speaking from the beach where the whale washed up, Mate said the environment may have also played a role. Resulting ocean warming that can harm marine life upon which blue whales feed.

Friday was the first day workers used machinery to take off the whale’s blubber and remove its bones.

By Friday, a crew of about 10 volunteers had removed most of the blubber, which was the relatively easy part of the job, Stevenson said.

Researchers plan to take the skeleton to the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute for educational display.

“Now they’re down to the muscle and meat”, which comes away in chunks rather than clean strips, he said.