Four marine mammals were found dead in the Pacific Northwest, including a 24-foot-long humpback whale, according to reports.
Keith Chandler, the manager of Seaside Aquarium, said the whale was found in Seaside, Oregon. Also, a harbor porpoise was found washed up up near Fort Stevens on Saturday, and a striped dolphin was found on Cannon Beach on Saturday, reported KGW-TV. A different striped dolphin was also found in Ocean Park, Washington, on Saturday.
“It’s quite a wide area, but it’s a big ocean,” he told the station, speculating that the deaths might be linked in some way.
He added: “We had some really heavy surf, so when you see one, you often see more than one.”
The Daily Astorian reported Monday that a team of marine experts from Portland State University and the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network moved the humpback whale to another part of the beach. Experts will then collect samples from the whale to determine the cause of death. The whale had been dead for a while.
“There were a few humpbacks hanging out in the mouth of the Columbia River last year,” Chandler told the Astorian.
“They are usually further offshore. It could have died offshore and with the storm, washed in.”
