Officials are currently investigating the circumstances that transpired prior to the sighting of a dead whale in the Marina Village part of Alameda, proximal to the Webster Tube and across Oakland's Jack London Square on Wednesday morning, Aug 26.
The National Marine Fisheries Service were informed of the sighting by the US Coast Guard Service at around 4:30 a.m., says Justin Viezbicke, the stranding network coordinator of the agency's California office.
The cause of death has not yet been identified. Although the whale was found near a container ship, the authorities could not immediately determine whether the ship struck the whale and caused its death or came after the whale had died. The members of the ship crew were even unaware that they had propelled the whale all the way to the San Francisco Bay. "The ship accepted tugs on the way in and they were told there was a whale on the bulbous bow," said Lt. J.G. Aulner, from the U.S. Coast Guard.
As per initial investigations, the whale appeared to have sunk when it approached Alameda on Monday, Aug 24. The apparent floating of the whale back to the surface of the water was said to be because it had already decomposed. According to the officials of the Coast Guard, it is unusual to see a dead whale in the bay.
The measurements and the exact kind of whale specie found have not yet been confirmed either. This is because the whale has been very difficult to access, said Laura Sherr, a public relations officer from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Although the researchers were able to capture photos of the whale and obtained samples of its tissues, the head part details have been elusive thus, the specie cannot be confirmed. Nonetheless, Sherr said it is most possibly a fin whale or a blue whale.
Viezbicke said that they are looking at the possibility of pulling the whale and getting it out of the water; however, such interventions would be very challenging and costly.
Over the past months, the Northwestern coastline of California has been seeing numerous dead whales. The reason for such events is probably due to higher temperatures of the water. Meanwhile, the North American west coast has reported an increase of dead whale sightings this year.
Photo: Nick Ares | Flickr
