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Baby Oregon Coast Whale Died of Blunt Trauma, Say Scientists

Photos by Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium

Kids from a Seaside elementary school help shove the whale into its final resting place

(Seaside, Oregon) - The baby gray whale that washed up on the beach at Seaside almost two weeks ago managed to contribute to science a bit on January 25, as well as to the education of a group of youngsters from the north coast town.

The baby whale corpse landed on the southern end of Seaside’s beach a few days before, and was almost immediately moved by backhoe to a spot on the northern end of the town’s beaches, out of reach of the tide line and away from more crowded portions of the beach. It caused a stir in the media, and it was initially thought the calf was born in the cold waters of the Oregon coast and died of exposure because it didn’t have enough blubber to insulate it. Read the story here

Baby whale getting moved by backhoe earlier in the week

On January 25, a group of biologists from Portland State University and the headquarters of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network showed up to do a necropsy, along with a group of elementary kids who braved the exceptionally gross proceedings and even helped shove the creature into its final resting place.

They discovered, however, that the calf may have died of a blunt trauma to the head, most likely caused from being trapped in a net - and not necessarily from being born unprepared to deal with Oregon’s chilly seas.

“There was major internal bruising in multiple areas,” said Tiffany Boothe, with the Seaside Aquarium. “There were also markings on the skin which looked to be consistent with it being in a net. The bruising in the net would have occurred as the whale struggled to get out. Now, keep in mind this is just the theory. Lab reports could produce a different answer, but right now this seems to be the most likely cause of death.”

The whale's skin had sea lice on it - small marine creatures that normally live on larger creatures

The team consisted of two students and three doctors, including Dr. Debbie Duffield, who heads up the network at PSU.

“There were also two shark bites on the mid section of the whale,” said Tiffany Boothe, with the Seaside Aquarium. “These bites, however, were done after the whale had been dead for a little while.”

The team took various measurements both external and internal, said Boothe. They weighed and took samples of the whale’s enormous organs, along with blood and fecal samples.

The whale was 16 feet long, and the shark bite was 29 by 35 inches.

Scientists removed the baleen as well

“The bites were determined to have happened post mortem because there was no blood in the tissue surrounding the bites,” Boothe said. “If the whale had been alive at the time of the attack, the tissue around the wound would have blood.”

Along with the team from PSU was a seventh grade class from Broadway Middle School. Boothe said that despite this potentially lunch-launching endeavor, they were willing to get down and dirty. They all gave a hand in pushing the whale into its grave, which was about 20 feet long and four to five feet deep.

“The kids were great,” Boothe said. “Though they were grossed out, their curiosity outweighed it. This is the first class that I've seen get involved. The fact that they volunteered to help push the whale carcass in the grave amazed me. When kids usually come to view a necropsy all you hear is ‘gross,’ ‘ewww,’ and ‘oh.that smells,’ but these kids were hardly affected. True scientists.”

The pictures taken by Boothe shows their reactions, however. “The expressions on the faces of these kids were priceless.”

The "children's expressions were priceless," according to Boothe	The shark bite on the side of the whale

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