Tag: noaa

Young whale, likely hit by ship, washes ashore in Huntington Beach

The whale carcass was initially found with a rope around its tail at a mussel farm in Long Beach, Ca.

*UPDATE: This post has been updated with input from NOAA Fisheries regarding the likelihood that the whale had been struck by a ship.

A 26-foot humpback whale that was found deceased and entangled in  commercial mussel-farming gear this week off Huntington Beach washed ashore Saturday morning just south of the city pier.

On Friday, Planet Whale shared footage of the bloated whale carcass at sea, with a weighted rope wound around its tail section. The juvenile whale might have been struck by a ship and killed before the carcass had become entangled. (Footage posted below.)

“When I saw that rope I got MAD. In the last few years the number of entangled whales I’ve seen with my own eyes has hit double digits,” wrote Erica Page of Planet Whale. “And we frequently see whales with evidence of prior entanglement. THIS IS NOT OKAY!”

On Saturday, images surfaced showing the carcass rolling in the surf.

The image atop this post was shared to Facebook by Keith Wehner, who wrote: “Something I haven’t seen before. If you aren’t doing anything later, removing it may be interesting to watch. South of the pier at Tower 3.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFO0Ko6vMxh/

Late Saturday, NOAA Fisheries issued a statement explaining that a necropsy had been performed on the whale and that “preliminary analysis showed significant blunt-force trauma to the right side of its head that could be indicative of a ship strike.”

NOAA Fisheries said it won’t release an official cause of death until necropsy results are analyzed.

Fishing boat speeds over sea lions in ‘terrible’ scene caught on video

Video footage has surfaced showing a fishing boat speeding across the Columbia River and running over sea lions in clear violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Video footage has surfaced showing a fishing boat speeding across the Columbia River and running over sea lions in clear violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The footage, captured Monday by a Portland resident, has prompted an investigation by county and federal authorities.

In the footage, the vessel is shown veering toward and over several groups of sea lions as they rest on an otherwise calm surface off Hayden Island.

“Whoever was driving it, they went right through the pack of the first one and it was kind of [like he] was trying to hit every pack and I just looked around me and everybody was devastated,” Michael Brady, who captured the footage, told KGW.

It was not clear if any animals were injured.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act, passed in 1972, prohibits the hunting or harassment of marine mammals, or approaching them too closely. Harassment can be defined as any act that alters the mammals’ behavior.

ALSO: False killer whales devour marlin in dramatic scene captured on video

The footage might also help to illustrate the frustration fishermen experience regarding mammals that are voracious competitors capable of decimating large schools of fish in short order.

“It was inappropriate for sure. But it really is a product of the frustration over the dramatic declines of salmon in the Pacific Northwest in recent years,” Bob Rees, a fishing guide and the executive director of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, told the Oregonian. “We don’t have the fishing opportunities that we’ve historically had.”

Said Brady: “I understand the frustration. I understand this year is tough on salmon. But I think this was a sport fisherman who had a little chip on his shoulder and it was terrible to witness as a community here.”

The number of California sea lions – the same animals that inhabit the Columbia River basin – has increased steadily since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Latest estimates place the West Coast population at about 280,000 animals.