Photos provided by LoCO reader Tom Schallert.
###
A deceased male humpback whale washed ashore on Mad River Beach this morning, according to staff with the North Coast Marine Mammal Center.
The cause of death is unknown at this time, but a staffer with the center told the Outpost via text message that researchers with Cal Poly Humboldt’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program are currently onsite conducting an assessment of the whale. We’ll update this post when we hear back.
This is the third humpback whale to wash ashore on the California coast since the beginning of June. The first was a deceased whale spotted on a beach near Pacific Grove in Monterey County on June 3, and a second juvenile humpback was found stranded at Sunset Beach near Watsonville in Santa Cruz County.
Staff with the UC Santa Cruz Marine Mammal Stranding Network conducted necropsies on the whales and identified domoic acid, a marine biotoxin associated with harmful algal blooms, in both samples. Exposure to domoic acid can cause neurological impairment, seizures and death in marine mammals, according to the report.
If you find a dead or stranded marine mammal on a local beach, contact Cal Poly Humboldt’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program at (707) 826-3650 or marinemammals@humboldt.edu. Injured or sick stranded marine mammals can also be reported to the North Coast Marine Mammal Center at (707) 951-4722.
