A fin whale decomposing on an Oregon beach creates a sad but ‘super educational’ spectacle

It’s not yet known what killed an endangered fin whale, but people can marvel at the large marine mammal as it disintegrates on an Oregon beach.

“While it’s sad, it’s also super educational,” Tiffany Boothe, assistant manager of the Seaside Aquarium, said Thursday of the rare sighting, which she said is only the second dead whale Oregon has seen in about 30 years.

Just don’t touch it because it can carry diseases that can be transmitted to people and pets, she said.

“And it stinks, too,†she said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It smells like a dead whale.â€

The 45-foot male whale washed up Monday morning at Sunset Beach State Park south of Warrenton. It was tangled in rope.

But before officials could examine the rope and determine what type of fishing gear it was, someone pulled it off and took it away, Boothe said.

“It was a well-intentioned person because the animal was still in the surf and appeared to be alive,” she said. “And so they thought they were helping to untangle a living animal.â€

Although the rope entanglement was serious, the whale was not in it for long and did not result in its death. It will take several weeks for the results of an autopsy performed Tuesday to determine what caused the emaciated whale’s death, Boothe said.

The whale will decompose naturally, providing a “huge nutritional boost to the local environment,” feeding scavengers such as eagles and ravens, down to small amphipods, Boothe said.

Allowing it to decompose shows a better understanding of what to do in these situations than in 1970, when officials chose to use dynamite to blow up a dead whale that washed up in southern Oregon.

The exploding whale incident wouldn’t happen again now, Boothe said, noting how that solution blew huge chunks of whale carcass into the air and even destroyed the roof of a car.

Boothe recommends viewing the decomposing whale at low tide and with a four-wheel drive vehicle.