A minke whale that spent last week swimming in Long Beach Harbor despite the efforts of marine fauna experts to put it back in deeper waters died this weekend, managers confirmed.
Michael Milstein, spokesperson for the regional office of the west coast of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a telephone interview that the whale had been found dead Sunday morning after the officials had worked on Thursday and Friday to push the whale outside the port, for its return. The operations involved withdrawing the booms near the entrance to the port to provide a wider opening for the whale and making noises to help encourage the animal in this direction.
After the failure of these efforts, Milstein said that hope was that the whale would find its way to the port when things were calmer at night, “which is generally happening when the whales wander in the berries or the coves.”
“Unfortunately, he did not prove to be in this way and the whale was found dead this morning,” he said. The whale was found outside the small basin where the boats coming and from the quay of the island of Catalina.
Milstein said the whale would be examined for injuries and other health problems to help determine why he died. One question is whether the whale has been affected by domoic acid, a marine neurotoxin caused by algae prolifications that have poisoned more than 100 marine lions and dozens of dolphins in southern California in recent weeks.
Minke whales, considered Noaa. The long Beach Harbor whale was about 24 feet long, said Milstein, or “sub-adult”, and was a man.
There are about 900 Minke whales off Oregon, Washington and California. Whale is protected under the Law on the protection of marine mammals.
Milstein said that there was a “mystery” why the whale was originally wandered in the port.
“Presumably, he moved away. The whales move around the coast,” he said. “They are looking for places to feed or rest that offer them potential advantages of habitat.”
He noted that the whales would occasionally swim in the mission bay in San Diego or in the Bay of San Francisco.
“Most of the time, they go again,” he said. “So we don’t know why this whale ended up here when it did.”
California Daily Newspapers
