Menu
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Feature
    • Arts
    • Astrology
    • Business
    • Community
    • Employment
    • Event Stories
    • From the Pioneer
    • Government
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Non Profit News
    • Obituary
    • Public Safety
  • Weather
  • Guest Column
    • Perspectives
    • Don Backman Photos
    • Ardent Gourmet
    • Kitchen Maven
    • I’ve been thinking
    • Jim Heffernan
    • The Littoral Life
    • Neal Lemery
    • View From Here
    • Virginia Carrell Prowell
    • Words of Wisdom
  • Calendar
  • Things to do
    • Tillamook County Parks
    • Tillamook County Hikes
    • Whale Watching
    • Tillamook County Library
  • About
    • Contribute
    • Advertising
    • Subscribe
    • Opt-out preferences
  • Search...
Menu

LIVE JUVENILE WHALE WASHES ASHORE NEAR WALDPORT

Posted on August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 by Editor

Waldport, Ore., Thursday, August 15, 2019 – A 20’ juvenile humpback whale washed shore north of the Alsea River near Waldport on Wednesday, August 14. A team organized by the Oregon State University-based Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network (OMMSN) responded to the report early Wednesday morning and coordinated an all-day effort to relieve the animal’s stress while waiting high tide. After two high tides—one mid-day Wednesday and one shortly after midnight Thursday—the whale remains stranded. A team of contractors representing the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrived early Thursday morning to help with an assessment of the whale.

Depending on the animal’s health, options include waiting for additional high tides, assisting its safe return to the ocean in some way, or euthanasia. The evaluation process will take several hours.
Students, volunteers , and staff with the OMMSN, Oregon Coast Aquarium, OSU Marine Mammal Institute, and OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center spent Wednesday providing comfort care by digging out around the beached whale while keeping it wet. Oregon State Park beach rangers provided support. During the Wednesday high tide, the whale managed to swim free briefly before stranding itself again. Members of the team stayed on site most of the night.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department reminds all residents and visitors the ocean shore is a wild environment, and presents an invaluable opportunity to enjoy wildlife and natural cycles. Wildlife should be given a wide berth and shown respect at all times, however. Any stranded marine mammal should be reported immediately to 541-270-6830. Marine mammals, including carcasses, are protected by federal law and must be left untouched and given 150’ of space in all directions.

The OMMSN began in the 1980s and is involved in collection and analysis of data and biological samples. Data collected from such events are entered into a national database that is used to establish baseline information on marine mammal communities and their health. The Stranding Network is a volunteer organization, with one paid staff member for the entire state of Oregon (the Network Coordinator). Stranding network members are from universities, state and federal agencies, and the general public, and they donate their time. The network does not receive state funds. Information on volunteering or donating to support the network is online at https://mmi.oregonstate.edu/ways-help.

# # #

Photos, video, and audio of the stranding are online and freely available for noncommercial use at https://tinyurl.com/waldportwhale.

Featured Video

Tillamook Weather

Tides

Podcast

Tillamook Early Learning Center
Tides of Change
Manzanita Open - Eugene Schmuck Foundation
Tillamook Police Chief Rau
Manzanita Farmers Market
CARE 2022

Archives

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
Linkedin

Recent Posts

  • Tillamook Kiwanis Celebrates Local Nonprofit Groups, Community Giving Grants Presented September 27th

    October 1, 2023
  • BOOK REVIEW: "The American Crisis - What Went Wrong. How We Recover"

    October 1, 2023
  • Oregon Self Advocacy Coalition First Annual Inclusive Leadership Summit Strives for Full Inclusion for All Abilities in All Communities

    October 1, 2023
editor (@) tillamookcountypioneer.net
MAILING ADDRESS:
Tillamook County Pioneer
PO Box 1086,
Tillamook, OR 97141
EULA
©2023 | Theme by SuperbThemes

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}