Dead whale dumped on Whidbey beach raises smelly questions
CAMANO ISLAND — When the massive carcass of a gray whale washes up on a Puget Sound shore, it’s towed to a less-populated area to decompose in peace. However, Whidbey residents were not exactly at peace with the odor and sight of rotting whale flesh floating down to public beaches at Possession Point State Park after a gray whale was deposited nearby.
Implications of this process are a concern to Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson as the number of deceased gray whales skyrocketed this year compared to years past.
“I think it’s a big deal,” Price Johnson said at a commissioners work session Wednesday.
Earlier this month, a dead gray whale was towed from Everett to Camano Island where it would be examined and left to decompose.
In April, an emaciated adult male washed up in the Seattle area and was then towed to Whidbey for a necropsy, according to Cascadia Research Collective. After researchers are finished collecting samples to determine the cause of death, the blubbery bodies are left to naturally decompose.
Price Johnson said in an email that she received a call from a woman who lives nearby one of these rotting carcasses who described “a terrible odor” and voiced concern over its location. About a month later, the whale seemed to have washed back out to sea, she said.
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If it is in an isolated enough area, they could load it up with explosives and blow it up. The smaller pieces should decompose much quicker.
I estimate 20 cases of dynamite should do the trick. If they are still confused they could google “exploding whale”.
