Whale washes-up on Sharp Park Beach (Mori Point)

NBC Bay Area/Riya Bhattaharjee, 4/15/15, "49-foot dead sperm whale washes up on Pacifica Beach." 

Marine biologists perform a necropsy, crowd gathers

"A 49-foot dead sperm whale washed up on a beach in Pacifica Tuesday, the Marine Mammal Center said. The center said the whale stranded at Mori Point on the south end of Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica.  

Whale initially looked like the rocks

....  A team from the Marine Mammal Center assessed the animal along with biologists from the California Academy of Sciences after receiving an alert Tuesday, and confirmed it to be dead upon arrival. The whale was found in an emaciated state. Marine biologists believe the whale is an adult male. A team comprising of veterinarians, biologists and researchers will be performing a necropsy Wednesday to determine the whale's age, class and sex."   Read article, includes video of waives washing over the whale, 2:01 minutes. 

Related news, local - ABC 7 News/Lilian Kim, 4/15/15, "Dead whale washes ashore on Pacifica Beach." "There's a rock out there in low tide. It's exposed and I thought it was that rock and then I'm like, 'Gosh, it's shinier than that rock.' So, as I got closer I realized it was a whale," said Pacifica resident Priscilla Schlottman. Researchers with the Marine Mammal Center say it's an adult sperm whale believed to be about 49 feet long."Dead whale washes ashore on Pacifica Beach." .... "There was like 50 congregating in Monterey Bay and we were expecting to see them start showing up down here, but it's a shame this is the first one we've seen," said Jim Auler, Pacifica resident."

Related news, region - The Guardian, UK/California/Pacifica/Associated Press, 4/15/15. "Fifty-foot sperm whale washes up on shore south of San Francisco." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked San Francisco Bay Area boaters to watch out for and steer clear of whales, which migrate into the San Francisco Bay Area in large numbers during the spring and summer. Gray whales are at a particularly high risk of collisions with ships and boats, as they often travel near shore and may even wander into the bay this time of year, the administration reports. Boaters should not approach within 100 yards of any whale, cut across a whale’s path, make sudden speed or directional changes or get between a whale cow and her calf."  

Beach Reference -  City of Pacifica, "Linda Mar Beach (Pacifica State Beach)".  Note: NBC article correction from "Mori Point on the south end of  Sharp Park Beach" to "Mori Point on the south end of Linda Mar Beach (Pacifica State Beach)".

Update:  San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate, 4/16/15, "Cause of death a 'mystery for whale found beached in Pacifica." Update:  Los Angeles Times, 4/21/15,"Corpse of beached sperm whale vandalized in Bay Area."

Note: photographs from KGO TV, ABC 7 News/Janet O, 4/15/15,"Scientists examine dead whale found in Pacifica." The Crowd photograph is by Wayne Freedman, the whale photographer is unidentified.  The public was/is welcome to submit related photographs to the article slideshow location. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh