Young, inexperienced whales could get stuck in certain marine environments too.
A 30-foot-long humpback whale got stuck in the Ventura Harbor in California but eventually managed to make its way out last Sunday morning, May 21.
Trapped Young Humpback
U.S. Coast Guard authorities revealed that the juvenile humpback became trapped in the harbor Saturday, May 20, at about 3 p.m.
Officials from the Coast Guard as well as the Ventura Harbor Patrol and National Park Service tried to help the mammal out through playing whale sounds near the harbor entrance using underwater speakers, along with banging on the sides of boats.
The attempts, however, were unsuccessful, as the trapped whale stayed in harbor as daylight ended and crowds had formed to witness the scene.
A Coast Guard official said that the harbor’s boats could be quite confusing for the animal using acoustics to navigate its way. With nighttime and calmer surroundings, the stranded one may have been able to find its way to the ocean.
There were no more signs of it on Sunday morning, said harborman George Kabris. No injuries were also spotted on the humpback, the Coast Guard official added.
As far as harbormaster John Higgins knew, the young humpback whale was the first to visit Ventura Harbor.
“We’ve had California grey whales just peek into the harbor as they’re going up and down the coast,” he told AP, adding none have ever actually gone into the harbor.
Humpback Whale News On The East Coast
Last year saw a strangely high number of deaths among humpback whales along the East Coast, where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducted a probe to find an answer on the unusual die-off. The spike in mysterious deaths was evident from the territories of Maine through North Carolina.
On the regular, deaths in the region would average at 14, yet last year it peaked at 41 deaths in the area.
Of the 41 whales that died in the period, 20 were examined and 10 demonstrated proof of blunt force trauma. While vessel strikes had been recorded in different locations in the area, there wasn’t any substantial spike in ship traffic there.
Whales, though, were thought to move closer to shipping routes due to several factors, including following their desired prey.
Marine Creatures Washing Up Ashore
A giant sea creature washed ashore in Indonesia recently, initially thought to be a colossal squid but turning out to be a whale species already dead for a few days before being discovered.
In the first quarter of 2017 alone too, the Philippines saw three different strange creatures wash ashore just weeks apart. These were a dead giant oarfish, a baffling blob with long white hair that turned out to be a carcass in late decomposition, and a giant sunfish that measured 5.41 feet long.
Around the same time as these sightings in the Philippines, over 400 pilot whales washed ashore at Farewell Spit in New Zealand. Seventy percent of the animals died before volunteers were able to lead them back to the water.
