An email received from:
We've sad news to share of a young female humpback who live stranded on the beaches of West Seattle. Reports started coming in early the morning of the 7th of a humpback moving slowly in the cove just south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock. She eventually stranded with the outgoing tide, stranding network responders kept her as hydrated as they could in hopes she would survive, but sadly she did not make it.
A great accounting in As-It-Happened-Coverage by the West Seattle Blog which includes an excellent press interview with John Calambokidis, lead researcher at Cascadia Research Collective.
Many entities were on scene and we are very grateful to all of them for their care, dedication and expertise. Here is an initial report from Cascadia Research staff:
Sunday morning biologists from Cascadia Research and WDFW, with assistance from NOAA, West Seattle Seal Sitters, Orca Network, and Whale Tales, responded to a live stranded humpback whale near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal in West Seattle.
The 39-foot juvenile female came ashore early in the morning and despite efforts to keep comfortable and wet died at approximately 10:30am. A limited necropsy was quickly conducted on site and revealed poor nutritional condition, multiple internal parasites, and internal injuries associated with the beaching event. The animal also had some killer whale bite marks on the jaw and killer whales had been reported in the area the previous day. Samples will be submitted for a variety of analyses to determine if there were any other conditions that contributed to the stranding. Current plans are for the animal to be sunk tomorrow with the help of WA State Ferries and Global Salvage. Further details will be posted on Cascadia's website.
Cascadia Research photos HERE. (one is graphic)
https://www.facebook.com/CascadiaResearch/posts/1191052540926515
West Seattle Blog link:
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/08/stranded-whale-reported-south-of-fauntleroy-ferry-dock/
Refer to my earlier photos on Whale-Viewing to see the Humpback the day before she died. This photo is in memory of her short life here on earth, it was taken the same time as the breaching photos were.
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