*UPDATE: This post has been updated with input from NOAA Fisheries regarding the likelihood that the whale had been struck by a ship.
A 26-foot humpback whale that was found deceased and entangled in commercial mussel-farming gear this week off Huntington Beach washed ashore Saturday morning just south of the city pier.
On Friday, Planet Whale shared footage of the bloated whale carcass at sea, with a weighted rope wound around its tail section. The juvenile whale might have been struck by a ship and killed before the carcass had become entangled. (Footage posted below.)
“When I saw that rope I got MAD. In the last few years the number of entangled whales I’ve seen with my own eyes has hit double digits,” wrote Erica Page of Planet Whale. “And we frequently see whales with evidence of prior entanglement. THIS IS NOT OKAY!”
On Saturday, images surfaced showing the carcass rolling in the surf.
The image atop this post was shared to Facebook by Keith Wehner, who wrote: “Something I haven’t seen before. If you aren’t doing anything later, removing it may be interesting to watch. South of the pier at Tower 3.”
Late Saturday, NOAA Fisheries issued a statement explaining that a necropsy had been performed on the whale and that “preliminary analysis showed significant blunt-force trauma to the right side of its head that could be indicative of a ship strike.”
NOAA Fisheries said it won’t release an official cause of death until necropsy results are analyzed.
