A plan is being developed to remove a 40-foot beached whale that is rotting on Little Dume, one of Malibu's most exclusive beaches, according to Los Angeles County Lifeguards.
"It’s not physically capable of being moved because of its condition. It’s so embedded in sand that they won’t be able to get it out. The body will be pulled apart. There’s no way to pull it," Zuma Beach-based Rescue Boat Capt. Kevin Marble said in an interview with Malibu Patch.
The juvenile male Fin whale washed ashore on Monday at Little Dume in Malibu, and a necropsy, the term for an autopsy performed on an animal, took place Tuesday. Researchers determined that the whale had died in the past few days from injuries resulting from a ship strike, according to the California Wildlife Center.
Marble said that several agencies, including California State Parks, the City of Malibu and the county lifeguards, were working together to come up with a plan.
"It looks like it ended up in one of those locations that is so isolated and so difficult to access both from the beach side and from the water side that the solutions are not easy," Marble said.
He said that burial is likely the only option, but that may not be possible because of the rocky nature of the beach. The beach is private, but the whale is located below the mean high tide line, meaning it is on public property.
"If it can be done. It is so rocky. Are you going to be able to dig underground? You can’t tow it with a boat. You can’t tow it with any other vehicle. It has to be exhumed and moved and buried," Marble said.
A spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game said the agency has not gotten involved.
Even if the whale was in good enough condition to be towed, he said that often causes problems for other beaches.
"When they’ve been viable enough to tow, they end up at somebody else’s doorstep and there is that further complaint," Marble said.
Marble did not give a time estimate on the removal, saying that a plan was working its way through the department.
"It’s unfortunate to be a resident in a location like that," he said.
Craig Sap of California State Parks confirmed that he has been in contact with several agencies about the whale.
"We don’t have a boat. We don’t have the resources to drag it off the beach," Sap said.
He said the best course of action is for the whale to be removed far out to sea.
"That carcass becomes food for some of the sharks and the other animals," Sap said.
If I were in the homeowners association where this washed up, I'd be checking the insurance policy under "attractive nuisance" and "sharks" and "dismemberment". That's a joke, Mister Commissioner.
"The decaying corpse of a huge fin whale was a sad spectacle Friday on the shore of a cove where it washed ashore nearly a week earlier. With no government agency taking action to remove the rapidly rotting mammal from Little Dume beach, it appeared that the job would be left to decomposition and nature's scavengers. ..."
"After a dead whale washed up on a beach in Malibu, Cailf., near Bob Dylan's home it wasn't long before a foul smell was blowin' in the wind and residents were demanding answers." Wire service reporters don't get out very often.
Who will you sue? The WHALE??
"Disposal of dead marine mammals is considered a 'take' under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, and must be reported to NMFS. Additionally, it is unlawful to take or possess parts of dead marine mammals without prior authorization from National Marine Fisheries Service." obviously some people have the resorces to get what they want. sure wish i could fund my own "take" privelige back! I think a marine reserve that is protected to such a degree that they ask people not to beach kayaks., because it'll kill sand crabs, ought to then accept mother natures bounty of nutrients from dead whales regardless of how unpleasant that may be. After all these MPAs were argued to be "nurseries". A natural gift of so much nutrients in one location is rare for the local marine community and any sharks it may attract is just part of the circle of life therein. like in the old days chumash would gather bones as tools and decoration.. some other parts probably used for other porposes. people and children learned from the viewing and all would pay great respect. what i saw was not much different in the past week.. there was more talk over the excitement than the burden. i saw people from out of town and local families walking down two or three times just to see the progress. so who are the ones that selfishly decided that their consuption was enough and made the decision to terminate what was most natural and respected?