Beached Whale Rots in Malibu04:33

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Published on February 14, 2017

A whale carcass that washed ashore on the coast early in December 2012, is no longer being a bother to the homeowners of Malibu.

The 40-foot fin whale was first spotted Monday as it laid among the rocks of Little Dume beach. Since then, the surf and wind have eroded the carcass, which was believed to have been hit by a boat, and officials have cut out portions of the mammal to determine how it died.

It washed into Malibu magnificent and macabre, a gleaming, lifeless fin whale. But after just five days on a beach favoured by Hollywood celebrities, it as is if a meat grinder had shredded Moby-Dick.

The smooth bluish-grey blubber which glistened on Monday, drawing crowds of awed onlookers to Little Dume beach, was by Friday a bleached carcass that had been ravaged by scientists, birds, insects, sun and surf.

“It was quite beautiful at first but I can’t believe this now,” said Angela Cancilla-Herschel, a California Wildlife Center volunteer, surveying the ruins. “This is quite shocking. It’s unbelievable.”

Waves lapped at bone and disintegrating flesh, the stench putrid.

It is thought the 40ft young male, weighing 40,000lbs, collided with a vessel, probably while it was surfacing for air, and came ashore dying or dead. Fin whales are an endangered species.

The whale ended up on a beach between Paradise Cove and Point Dume state beach, a quiet, scenic spot beneath bluffs where Barbra Streisand, Matthew McConaughey and other stars have palatial homes. Authorities have disagreed over who has responsibility for the carcass, leaving it to fester as a meal for scavengers and a grim attraction for humans.

Scientists removed internal organs and opened the whale’s spine to take samples for a necropsy. Flocks of seagulls gorged on the bonanza. Some of the trickle of onlookers who trekked to the site on Friday, however, said the whale retained its majesty.

“It’s beautiful, man. It’s sad but it’s a magnificent creature. I’ve never seen one before,” said Rico Rivera, 31, a research assistant. “It came on the beach to die so maybe they should just leave it here.”

Ingrid De La O, a realtor, agreed that the sight of the whale was sad but amazing. “You don’t understand the immensity of of a whale until you see it up close.”

Her boyfriend, Neil Strauss, a writer, said that regardless of its decomposition, the whale remained a marvel of nature. “Elsewhere in the world, or at other times, it would be turned into food or oil for lamps,” he said. “Now scientists take samples and everyone just watches it rot.”

The city of Malibu suggested that Los Angeles county should take responsibility. County officials said the whale was on a private beach and so nothing to do with them, though in fact it is a public beach. Others have said that California’s state parks service ought to take charge.

The carcass has disintegrated to such an extent that towing it out to sea is no longer feasible.

“It’s not physically capable of being moved because of its condition,” Kevin Marble, of the LA county Lifeguards, told Malibu Patch. “It’s so embedded in sand that they won’t be able to get it out. The body will be pulled apart.”

One mooted option is burial at the beach, but the beach is rocky and without easy access for mechanical digging equipment. Some have suggested burning the whale.

“No one is taking responsibility or action. I’m hearing excuse after excuse after excuse,” said James Respondek, a local realtor and surfer. The remains could drift out to sea and create a “chum line”, attracting sharks, he said.

“This is a public-safety issue. I’m still going to surf but what about
my eight-year-old? Or all the other surfers?”

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