whale pulled ashore in tampa

[Amby 490]

FORT DE SOTO — A large whale found dead in Tampa Bay on Sunday was towed to shore here Monday morning for a necropsy and burial and scientists quickly determined the species.

It's a 41.5-ft. Bryde's Whale — pronounced broo-dess — also known as a Tropical Whale. The species was determined as scientists began a daylong necropsy.

Bryde's Whale sightings are unusual but not unheard of locally. They are found more often in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.

A boat began pulling the 50-foot whale ashore around 10 a.m. The carcass arrived about midnight after being towed for about eight hours from the Port of Tampa, where it was found.

A crowd of some 50 people gathered along the shore to watch as a towboat pulled the carcass ashore, and a tourist boat stopping during its usual trek to Egmont Key. Some people grabbed chunks of whale skin that washed ashore as souvenirs, which authorities said is not advisable until the cause of death is determined because of the possibility of disease.

The whale was pulled to a spot onshore at Fort DeSoto just a few feet from a pit that was dug Sunday at an unofficial marine life burial ground.

Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other government agencies will perform the necropsy to determine how the whale died. They include representatives from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the Florida Aquarium.

The necropsy is expected to take all day and possibly into the night. It is designed to determine whether the whale died from environmental causes, disease or an impact with a vessel.

Erin Sougeres, a NOAA Fisheries whale expert, said it's still unclear what kind of species the whale is, and officials won't know until they can roll it over and look at its fins. NOAA will pick up the cost of the towing, expected to be in the thousands.

"Depending on the level of decomposition, we normally can determine the cause of death,'' said Katie Brill of FWC. But this whale is particularly decomposed because of the hot weather and the length of time it was in the water, she said.

The whale drew dozens of onlookers, including Kurt Zuelsdorf from Gulfport. "Just the opportunity to see a whale, I had to come out,'' he said. "Being from Wisconsin they didn't come along through the Great Lakes that often. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.'' He kept his daughter out of school so she could watch.

It's unclear how the whale died, but the most prevalent theory is that it was hit by a ship, because it showed up in a Port of Tampa turning basin and had scrapes on its body. The whale's organs will also be checked for disease and, if it was hit by a ship, officials will determine whether that happened before or after its death.

After the necropsy, it will be buried in a 20-foot-wide pit dug Sunday in an area where sperm whales, manatees, sea turtles, dolphins and other marine life have been buried since 1975, about 100 feet from shore.

The carcass could be seen from shore Monday morning, and the putrid smell of rotting whale flesh was obvious to anyone standing on the beach — a slightly sweet, pungent and fatty odor that intensified as the wind shifted.

Fort De Soto park supervisor Jim Wilson said when conditions improve, county employees will use a backhoe and other tools to pull it closer to the swimming pool-size marine animal grave. The necropsy will be performed as carefully as possible to avoid spills or mess.

"We don't want any remains to wash up on Anna Maria Island," Wilson said. "The last thing we want is whale parts to wash up on someone else's beach and all of a sudden people think we have some kind of (whale deaths) phenomenon here."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/w...-burial/1041606

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Peikko 1,575]

Yeah, it's sad. They are doing the right thing by disposing of it though.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

[chri'stina 190]

I was at Fort DeSoto a couple weeks ago for the 1st time and I saw lots of dark, large fins out in the water but wasn't sure what they were. I doubt they were whales but they were something bigger than a usual fish.

[Staashi 371]

I used to live right by Fort De Soto...never saw any whales out there. Poor thing. I whales.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Staashi