A 51-foot fin whale got stuck in shallow waters at a Los Angeles beach and died before rescuers could get to the scene. This tragic tale comes as the U.S. continues to battle multiple “unusual mortality events” affecting large whale species.
Lifeguards at Torrance Beach spotted the whale in distress around 6 p.m. and called wildlife experts, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Lifeguard Division posted on X. At that time, the fin whale was still alive. The fin whale is an endangered species and is the second largest species of whale after the blue whale.
Experts from the Marine Mammal Care Center and National Marine Fisheries Service responded but they determined the whale was dead when they arrived. The experts noted the fin whale appeared to be in poor health. It was skinny and had visible bumps on its skin, which is unusual for the species.
The exact cause of the whale’s death is unknown but lifeguards told local media that the whale appeared to have beached itself. Specialist Keith Matassa with the Marine Mammal Care Center told Fox11 that whales sometimes beach themselves when they’re near death because they can no longer swim or support themselves in the water.
Wildlife officials took samples of the dead whale to try and identify a cause of death and why it was in such poor health. The whale was originally estimated to be about 35 to 40 feet long but an official measurement showed it was upwards of 51 feet. Fin whales can grow up to 70 feet so experts believe it was a juvenile.
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Lifeguards asked the public to stay away from the beached whale’s body as emergency workers devised a plan to remove the carcass.
“Due to its size & location it is expected that the whale will remain on the beach while responders create a plan to remove it,” lifeguards wrote on X. “If you are in the area please give the animal & responders plenty of space to work!”
By Sunday afternoon the whale was gone. Fox11 reports that lifeguards towed the whale out to sea using a boat.
This incident comes as wildlife experts have been sounding the alarm about a surge in large whale deaths. The situation is so bad that the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Division has three active “unusual mortality events” it is investigating concerning various species of whale.
Since 2016, the agency has been looking into the large number of humpback whale strandings and deaths along the Atlantic coast. The cause of the unusual mortality event is unknown, though the agency suspects it has something to do with human activity, particularly boats striking the whales. So far, 227 humpback whales have died along coastal states in the eight-year period.
Apart from humpback whales, NOAA is also concerned about right whales and minke whales. Experts have observed an unusual mortality event for right whales since 2017 and minke whales since 2018.
There isn’t an active alert for fin whales currently but the species was the subject of investigation after a large number washed ashore in Alaska and British Columbia in 2015 and 2016. In total, 46 whales died, including 12 fin whales and 22 humpback whales in Alaska. Five fin whales and seven humpbacks died in B.C. A definitive cause was never found but experts suspected ecological factors like the 2015 El Nino could have played a role.
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