Community Corner
Humpback Whale Found Dead On Peninsula Coast
The whale was a 49-foot female that appeared otherwise healthy.
SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The death of a humpbacked whale in Half Moon Bay was likely caused by blunt force trauma injuries caused by a ship, the Marine Mammal Center announced on Monday.
Scientists at Sausalito's Marine Mammal Center suspect that a humpback whale that washed ashore at Manhattan Beach on Sunday died due to injuries consistent with being struck by a ship.
Experts from the center and the California Academy of Sciences performed a necropsy on the whale.
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"This humpback whale had an extensive contusion over her right chest area, a fractured first cervical vertebra and its skull was dislocated from the spinal column," said Dr. Padraig Duignan, Director of Pathology at the center.
The whale was a 49-foot female that appeared otherwise healthy.
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While the findings were tragic, scientists say that information from such events can help inform policy decisions that can protect habitats, change shipping lane speeds, and allow experts to better understand shifting food sources for marine mammals in a warming ocean.
Humpback whales are federally protected and frequent the California coast to feed during the summer and fall before migrating south to their winter calving and mating grounds off the coast of Mexico, the Marina Mammal Center said.
Beachgoers reported the dead whale to the Marine Mammal Center's hotline, which anyone can call to report a dead whale or a whale in distress. To reach the center call (415) 289-7325.
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