Researchers from California performed necropsy on a dead humpback whale in California on Friday. Unfortunately, there failed to determine its cause of death.
The carcass of a dead humpback whale washed up off the jetty at Surfer's Beach on Wednesday evening. It floated out to the Pillar Point Harbor breakwater soon afterwards, but drifted back to shore on Friday. The whale was young, female, and 25 feet long. Researchers estimated it to be less than two years old.
A team of researchers from the California Academy of Sciences worked on examining the remains on Friday. The scientists found signs of trauma and bloody muscle on its side, but the exact cause of death was difficult to determine since most of its parts decomposed too much.
According to the Half Moon Bay Review, Sue Pemberton, the curatorial assistant with the Academy of Sciences, detailed that the researchers would attempt to put the bones together before returning it back to the sea with a boat. The scientists planned to leave it at a place where they think it would sink and decompose.
She detailed how past whale autopsies resulted in local marine sanctuaries imposing new animal protections. In 2007, five blue whales were found in Southern California. They died when they got hit by passing commercial ships. As a consequence, the Gulf of Farallones, along with other marine sanctuaries, came up with speed limits for ships to keep animals safe.
"This is important science. Believe it or not, but this helps with the preservation of animals," Pemberton said to Half Moon Bay Review.
More whales were seen swimming around the beaches in California recently. People also reported seeing gray whales in huge numbers, swimming close to shore on the way to feeding grounds in Alaska. Humpback whales, which showed up less frequently than gray whales, were also seen on a migration path to the North.
