Photo: Discovering Depoe Bay Oregon // Facebook
A humpback whale stranded on the Central Oregon coast is scheduled to be euthanized Monday. The decision closes a protracted rescue attempt in which volunteers failed to move the animal out to sea.
The cetacean washed ashore on Saturday in San Marine, Oregon. According to the Facebook page Discovering Depoe Bay Oregon, experts measured the whale at 26 feet. The age of the whale was estimated to be one to two years old. They also noted that the cause of the stranding appeared to be a tangled line from a crab pot, which was seen in the whale’s mouth.
Community members made a valiant effort to return the beached whale to the water. Onlookers were seen attempting to push the whale out to sea, and at night, the would-be rescuers provided fluids and vitamins to give the animal extra energy needed to swim out to sea.
The best hope for rescue came at high tide on Monday, around 10 a.m., when volunteers attempted to use ropes to pull the whale out to sea, but failed. “The 10 a.m. high tide window has come and gone. Unfortunately, the juvenile whale remains beached,” wrote Discovering Depoe Bay Oregon. “The most likely outcome for this humpback, after 43 hours, is humane euthanasia. If love alone could have lifted this whale back into the sea, it would have. This community has come together for one whale in a way that the world needs more of.”
Lisa Ballance, Director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, confirmed to KPIC that the whale was set to be euthanized later that day.
