Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Few beachgoers can resist the desire for a close-up look at these fascinating mammals, but Rice warns that it’s best to give them a wide berth.

The blue whale’s 70-foot-long carcass washed up in Gold Beach, Oregon in 2015. Often whales sink to the ocean floor and are picked apart by predators and scavengers, making the odds of a nearly complete carcass being recovered exceptionally rare. “It’s an exciting opportunity for us and we’re thrilled to make it happen,” [Lisa] Ballance said.

Changes in arctic waters may be affecting the gray whales’ food supply, leading them to become malnourished, [Jim] Rice said. Killer whales also prey on them. ... Rice said the whale deaths are concerning, but he pointed out that it’s not completely unusual.

Charles Nye, a graduate fellow with OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, said he was able to examine some organic material from the crabbing gear line. Nye has determined that the dead orca was not [endangered Southern Resident killer whale] K44. 

Sometimes, a marine mammal stranding presents a unique opportunity to educate. Such is the case of a blue whale that washed ashore near Gold Beach seven years ago, now the focus of a campaign to raise money to reconstruct and display it at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. To learn more about donating, go to beav.es/bones.

Once a year for two months, the cacophony of barking coming from the Newport Sea Lion Docks falls silent. “They will probably be absent from the Yaquina Bay and most of the Oregon coast from early June to late July,” said Jim Rice, Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program manager.