The Blue Whale that washed up on a Curry Co. beach Nov. 2, was emaciated. Officials with the OSU Marine Mammal Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport say the 82-foot long whale most likely starved to death after being unable to find food in the algae-heavy North Pacific Ocean. There were also signs that Orcas, or Killer Whales, also attacked the world’s largest mammal. The whale beached just north of the Ophir Rest Area about seven-miles north of Gold Beach. Volunteers worked to remove the blubber and organs from the whale while preserving its skeleton. The bones have now been stored at an undisclosed site to allow insects to do their work on removing the rest of the tissue. The process could take up to two-years to complete. That works out for officials at the Marine Mammal Institute who want to display the Blue Whale’s skeleton in their soon-to-be-built new Marine Mammal building on the HMSC campus at South Beach, Newport. Once the bones are cleaned, holes will be drilled into them to release a naturally-occurring oil, and then it will be reassembled. Curry Co. Commissioner David Brock Smith has proposed keeping the skeletal remains in the county as a tourist attraction; however, finding a building large enough, and with the structure to support the Blue Whale’s skeleton, could be difficult. Smith has suggested maybe a promotional partnership with the institute on the Central Coast that promotes Curry Co. on the South Coast. The Blue Whale is the second whale to wash up on the South Coast. Back in 2012, a dead Sperm Whale washed up on a small beach at Chetco Point near Brookings. Smith says that event attracted a lot of curious onlookers to Curry Co.
