'The most horrible smell you've smelled': Dead whale washes ashore
PACIFIC BEACH, Wash. -- For the third time in seven years, a whale was found beached in a popular tourist area in Grays Harbor County.
This time, the gray whale washed ashore near Pacific Beach. The big job for the state is getting the beach cleaned up.
The North Beaches are a great place to walk. Usually. Not always.
This gray whale showed up on the beach on Tuesday. It was barely alive.
Dana Cross was one of the first to spot it:
"It's been a long time since I've seen a whale on a beach. Whether it was sick or just came in too close I don't know," she said.
Researchers on the scene said the 38 feet-long female showed some signs of trauma, but they were unable to determine the exact cause of death, according to John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research. The carcass was moderately decomposed.
The place where the whale beached is closed to cars, but not to locals with cameras and curiosity. As they watched, workers hauled the whale away from the tidelands.
Nicki Price lives nearby. She realizes they are going to bury it on her beach.
"I think it's the best thing they can do, unless they can take it out there and let the fish eat it or whatever," she said.
That's wouldn't work; it would just come back with the tide.
And everyone knows that blowing it up is a lousy idea. They tried that, with disastrous results some years back in Florence, Oregon.
Towing to sea or blowing it up: not good ideas. But it can't just be left there.
That's why the state hires Steve Rockey. This is his third whale burial -- something he considers necessary.
"If they don't come off the beach, people who come down to enjoy the beach won't be able to if you get downwind of them. It's the most horrible smell you've smelled in your life," he said.
There's a reason they are working in a hurry. You see, on Thursday, this beach will be filled with clam diggers and clam diggers and dead whales don't go well together.
The whale will be buried under about six feet of sand. Rockey says no one will be able to spot the place.
This time, the gray whale washed ashore near Pacific Beach. The big job for the state is getting the beach cleaned up.
The North Beaches are a great place to walk. Usually. Not always.
This gray whale showed up on the beach on Tuesday. It was barely alive.
Dana Cross was one of the first to spot it:
"It's been a long time since I've seen a whale on a beach. Whether it was sick or just came in too close I don't know," she said.
Researchers on the scene said the 38 feet-long female showed some signs of trauma, but they were unable to determine the exact cause of death, according to John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research. The carcass was moderately decomposed.
The place where the whale beached is closed to cars, but not to locals with cameras and curiosity. As they watched, workers hauled the whale away from the tidelands.
Nicki Price lives nearby. She realizes they are going to bury it on her beach.
"I think it's the best thing they can do, unless they can take it out there and let the fish eat it or whatever," she said.
That's wouldn't work; it would just come back with the tide.
And everyone knows that blowing it up is a lousy idea. They tried that, with disastrous results some years back in Florence, Oregon.
Towing to sea or blowing it up: not good ideas. But it can't just be left there.
That's why the state hires Steve Rockey. This is his third whale burial -- something he considers necessary.
"If they don't come off the beach, people who come down to enjoy the beach won't be able to if you get downwind of them. It's the most horrible smell you've smelled in your life," he said.
There's a reason they are working in a hurry. You see, on Thursday, this beach will be filled with clam diggers and clam diggers and dead whales don't go well together.
The whale will be buried under about six feet of sand. Rockey says no one will be able to spot the place.
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