Whale Carcass on McDonald Spit

Observation by Mike Brubaker:

This post was shared by Whip and Kineo Gorman from their outing on McDonald Spit.

Comments by Michael Opheim:

This whale was dead back in June. SVT staff responded to it after it had washed up on a beach near Wadsworth Creek. We were unable to get more than one sample from it before it went adrift again. It eventually was either found or towed to a beach on MacDonald's Spit where SVT was again asked to look at it. We are currently retrieving bones from it as they separate from the carcass.

Comments from LEO Editors:

This observation has been shared with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

While this whale looks like it has been dead on the beach for quite some time, it is still worth noting the occurrence. Between 2015 and 2016, an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) was declared for whales in the Gulf of Alaska and along the western coasts of British Colombia and the United States. Beginning in 2019 and continuing in to 2020, a UME for gray whales has been declared for gray whales. The causes of these deaths are still under investigation by scientists. Erica Lujan