It took lifeguards all day to tow Wally, a dead humpback whale, just 11 miles out to sea. South winds brought the carcass back close to shore Monday. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK GIRARDEAU & MIKE MONGOLD, NEWPORT LANDING WHALE WATCHING
From: The Orange County Register
Wally doesn’t seem to want an ocean burial.
Dana Point Harbor Patrol made yet another attempt to tow the 45-foot whale carcass far out to sea after it came close to shore Wednesday afternoon, just days after Newport Beach lifeguards spent two days towing the massive, rotting humpback away from the coast.
The Ocean Adventure whale-watching boat alerted authorities about the whale as it came about two miles from shore in Dana Point, according to Donna Kalez, manager for Dana Wharf Whale Watching.
“By the time they got there, they felt it was close enough, just to be safe,” said Carrie Braun, public affairs manager for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Wally first washed up at Los Angeles’ Dockweiler State Beach just before the Fourth of July weekend and the carcass was towed out to sea in hopes it would decompose far from the shoreline, allowing nature to take its course.
However, a week later, the carcass had to be towed further out to sea as it came within a half-mile from shore in San Pedro.
A shark research vessel near the Palos Verdes Peninsula observed great white sharks – one about 18 feet long – eating the whale. That boat was attacked by the hungry sharks.
Then on Sunday, Wally made her way toward Newport Beach, coming close to shore in West Newport. Lifeguards spent the day towing it out to sea, but because of her size, they managed to get only 11 miles out. Again, on Monday, the whale was pushed by a strong south wind close to shore, and again lifeguards had to tow it back out to sea.