By LORI TOBIAS/for The Oregonian
NEWPORT — Most everyone knows the story of Oregon’s infamous exploding whale. Now there’s another whale destined for fame — this time with a decidedly brighter outcome.
Dead sea animals of all kinds wash ashore on Oregon beaches. The often large, rotting carcasses can be a bit of a nuisance – hence the unfortunate dynamiting in 1970 of the sperm whale in Florence.
Other times, the dead animals are a curiosity, attracting visitors for a closer look. And sometimes, the stranding presents a unique opportunity to educate.
Such is the case of a 78-foot blue whale that washed ashore near Gold Beach seven years ago, now the focus of a campaign to raise money to reconstruct and display it at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
“A blue whale that comes ashore as a whole is not all that rare,” said Lisa Ballance, director of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute. “But if it comes ashore close enough to a facility that has the capability of doing this kind of project, that is a rare thing. What is special about a blue whale is that blue whales are the largest of the whales, the largest animals to have ever lived on the planet. Larger even than the largest dinosaur. It is an awesome thing to behold.”
But, at approximately $425,000, it’s not inexpensive to recreate the skeleton. Two unnamed donors have already given $225,000 toward the project. Now, the institute is hoping others will help raise the rest.
A years-long process
The whale was first spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard floating off the beach north of the mouth of the Rogue River on Nov. 1, 2015. A day later, observers reported the whale had come ashore and died soon after.
Jim Rice, the institute’s stranding coordinator, arrived Nov. 3, and with Bruce Mate, emeritus director, agreed it was too important of an opportunity to let pass. The first task was to harvest as much of the whale as possible, both to learn what caused its death, and for the bones.
“The bones of the largest animal that has ever lived on earth, that is quite a spectacular thing,” Mate said. “There are 356 bones. The whales can reach over 100 tons — just an unfathomable amount of weight. All those things we wanted to bring home to people by showing the skeleton. It’s just so breathtaking.”
For nine days, more than 45 people including OSU students, staff and faculty, as well as local volunteers, worked to dismember the carcass and salvage the skeleton. Heavy equipment was brought in to help with the loading of the bones, which were then driven to Newport.
“From the necropsy, we learned this animal had used up all its blubber,” said Mate. “After several years of bad feeding conditions for whales, it starved. Whales feed on small things. When the small things don’t survive, the whole ecosystem is having a problem. This whale really demonstrated that for us. It’s just a sad situation.”
Five months after the whale washed ashore, the skeletal bones were put in makeshift bags assembled from repurposed fishing nets, then lowered by crane into Newport’s Yaquina Bay and anchored to the seafloor with cables and chains.
“Soaking them in water is one of the best, most effective and safest ways to clean the flesh off of bones if you want to preserve the bone itself,” said Ballance. “It doesn’t harm the bones. Whale bones are special because of the high oil content. That oil is not easy to get out of the bone. Ideally you want to get the oil out in a way that doesn’t destroy the bone itself.”
Divers monitored the bones until they were removed from the water in November 2019. Scientists, students and volunteers have spent the past two years treating the bones and soaking them in chemicals to remove oil from them.
Next up, the bones will be shipped to Dinosaur Valley Studios in East Coulee, Alberta, where the project will be completed. And then, it’s time for the public to meet what is likely to become Oregon’s next famous whale.
Ballance and her staff are still deciding the exact location but do know it will be at or near the new Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
“It will be a jaw-dropping display any place it is displayed because it is such an awesome animal,” Ballance said.
Until then, it’s onward with the fundraising.
“We’re really hopeful there are going to be some saints out there who care about marine mammals and public education. If we could get three people to give $50,000…” Mate said. “It was a tragedy, but we understood what happened, which was really good. More importantly, we’re going to sustain this animal’s impact by putting it out for public view. Come and enjoy this magnificent site.”
- To learn more about donating, go to: https://beav.es/5ZC
Fascinating article. Hope they are able to raise the funds to have this skeleton in Newport.