A whale's death draws the curious

KLIPSAN BEACH, Pacific County — At low tide late Friday afternoon, with the beach about two city blocks wide, they drove right to the carcass in their Chevy Silverados and their Toyota Highlander Hybrid Synergy Drives.

They touched, they prodded, they posed for digital photos, they said how sorry they were for the humpback whale that had died and ended up on this beach.

Sometimes, they talked about death as part of the cycle of life.

When a 15-ton, 50-plus-foot carcass ends up on the Long Beach Peninsula beach used by tourists and locals for driving around in four-wheelers, and, in season, for digging razor clams, it can bring out a bit of philosophizing.

"It was a noble death," said Yvonne Richard, 55, of Vancouver, as she stood by the carcass.

"I feel sad. They're having quite a hard time, with all the pollution and whatnot," Bob Stotts, of Sandy, Ore., said about whales. "Too bad it can't talk."

The humpback whale, a female, was spotted near the beach on Wednesday by state fish and wildlife researchers in a helicopter who were doing a count of seals and sea lions.

Friday morning, about a dozen researchers from various agencies used long knives to cut into the carcass and remove its organs, hoping to determine what killed the whale.

The cause of death wasn't anything obvious, such as the whale having been hit by a ship, said Jessie Huggins of the Cascadia Research Collective, an Olympia-based nonprofit that studies whales.

"We'll send out samples for testing: the liver, kidney, reproductive organs," she said.

The whale, she said, was well on its way to decomposing.

"It doesn't smell very good. A lot of people commented about that as they walked by," said Huggins.

"How do you describe the smell of dead whale? Kind of like really rotten crab. It's a very unique smell."

Huggins said she saw the curious climb on top of the dead whale and pose for photos.

Now, with the whale cut open, Huggins said, "We warn people not to touch the whale. It's got bacteria. Keep your distance."

A spokeswoman for Washington State Parks said the whale was scheduled to be dragged and buried this morning at the beach. That's if the agency can get the equipment to haul a 15-ton carcass.

Dead whales on a beach cause a lot of attention, but they're not unusual, said John Calambokidis, a biologist with the Cascadia group.

A humpback was found on the Washington coastline in 1998, and another in 2004. It was not known how they died.

Gray whales are more commonly found dead on this state's beaches — seven so far this year, 11 last year.

Some of the gray whales had starved, said Calambokidis, perhaps because of lack of food in the Bering Sea. Some had been hit by ships, and some had been attacked by orcas.

The humpback whales that travel along the Washington coastline have a migration route that can include Mexico, Central America or Hawaii, Calambokidis said, adding that there are about 1,500 of the humpback whales, an endangered species, along the West Coast.

"They're very sociable animals. They have these long pectoral fins that are longer than in any whale. The males, in the breeding grounds, sing these underwater songs," he said. "They have personalities."

Friday at dusk, the curious continued driving up to the dead whale.

They posed for group photos. They tried to pull off barnacles that had attached themselves to the whale.

One of the onlookers was Carole George, 50, who recently moved to the Long Beach area from Spokane.

She wondered why some of the curious were laughing when looking at the whale.

"I guess it's natural," she said. "Maybe they've never seen a dead whale before."

A few minutes later, a group of eight people posed before the carcass.

The woman taking the picture wanted bright smiles.

"Everybody say, 'Dead whale!' " she said.

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com