Rod R. sent me this picture via e-mail, along with the following description:
This is the carcass of a blue whale in the Santa Barbara Channel. The vessel with it is the Pacific Storm, an 84-foot research boat operated by Oregon State University. Comparing the size of the whale to the boat, it appears to be over 70 feet long.(Click the picture for a larger view.)
The blue whale is still an endangered species. They grow to 100-150 tons in weight and over 100 feet in length, so this one was probably not fully grown. It was probably killed by a collision with a ship heading into or out of the Port of Los Angeles.
It's sad to see so majestic and rare an animal meet such a death.
Peter
Sad, but not unusual; IF the ship had even seen the whale, it would have been too late. Funny thing is NRDC NEVER sues the oil companies for their noise or the shipping companies when stuff like this happens...
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