70 Whales MYSTERIOUSLY Found DEAD
Another dead whale has mysteriously washed up on Southern California shores – the latest in a shocking 70 whale deaths this year, and officials seem suspiciously clueless about what’s really going on.
At a Glance
- A 50-foot gray whale was found dead on Huntington Beach with no obvious cause of death
- This is part of an alarming trend, with at least 70 gray whale deaths reported in Baja California this year alone
- Officials conducted a necropsy but found no signs of physical injury, boat strike, shark attack, or entanglement
- The number of migrating gray whales observed this year is the lowest on record
- While officials take weeks to determine a cause, the 60,000-pound carcass will be buried onshore
Yet Another Unexplained Whale Death on California Shores
In what’s becoming a disturbingly common occurrence, another massive gray whale has washed up dead on California’s shores. This time, the 50-foot behemoth appeared at Huntington Beach near Tower 7 around 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The young adult female, weighing an estimated 60,000 pounds, showed no obvious signs of what killed her. Of course, officials are quick to tell us what DIDN’T kill the whale, but conveniently silent on what DID. It’s just the latest in what appears to be a catastrophic die-off that nobody seems interested in explaining to the public.
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center conducted a necropsy on the massive creature but came up empty-handed when looking for the cause of death. They’ve ruled out the usual suspects – no boat strike, no shark attack, no entanglement in fishing gear. So they’ve taken samples and sent them off to a lab for further testing. But don’t hold your breath for answers. Glenn Gray from the center merely offered this unhelpful tidbit: “It may take a couple weeks. We’ll share with the public what we know.”
A Disturbing Pattern Emerges Across the Region
This isn’t just one isolated case. According to Steven Swartz, “At least 70 whales have died since the beginning of the year in the lagoons of Baja California in Mexico, where they go in the winter.” That’s an astronomical number that should have alarm bells ringing everywhere. Add to that the three gray whales that recently died in San Francisco Bay, and a disturbing pattern emerges. Meanwhile, according to Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the American Cetacean Society, the number of migrating gray whales observed this year is the lowest on record. Connect the dots, folks.
Many of the dead whales have shown signs of malnourishment. Now, I’m no marine biologist, but when dozens of the same species are dying from starvation while migrating along the same route they’ve used for centuries, shouldn’t we be asking some tough questions? What’s happening to their food supply? These creatures are trying to make their way north to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, but they’re not making it. Something is seriously wrong with this picture, and the lackadaisical response from officials is nothing short of infuriating.
Bureaucratic Response Raises More Questions
The city’s response to this 60,000-pound carcass on their pristine beach? The Huntington Beach Fire Department’s Marine Safety Division taped off the area – problem solved! The City’s Public Works Department announced they “received approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration & Pacific Marine Mammal Center to proceed with burial of the whale in the early AM.” That’s right, folks. Rather than getting to the bottom of what’s killing these magnificent creatures, they’re literally burying the evidence. Originally, reports indicated the whale would be towed back to sea, but now they’ve decided to bury it onshore instead.
Let’s not forget that a minke whale also recently died in Long Beach Harbor despite efforts to guide it back to deeper waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is supposedly investigating that death too. But given their track record, I wouldn’t expect any answers anytime soon. It’s becoming crystal clear that something major is disrupting the marine ecosystem along our western coast, and the environmental agencies that our tax dollars fund seem more interested in managing public relations than finding actual solutions. When 70+ whales die in a matter of months, it’s not just a series of unfortunate events – it’s a crisis that deserves immediate attention and transparent investigation.
