April 25--A massive dead whale has washed ashore at a popular surfing destination south of San Clemente and triggered safety concerns that its carcass could attract sharks.
Swimmers and surfers were asked to stay away from Lower Trestles, a surfing destination at San Onofre State Beach, as the gray whale decomposes, said Capt. Todd Mansur, a lead naturalist at Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching.
Meanwhile, state lifeguards planned to use boats to move the whale carcass from the shoreline at high tide, he said. The carcass will be guided into the ocean and hauled at least 10 miles away from shore.
Mansur, a Gray Whale Foundation board member, first spotted the roughly 40-foot whale offshore Friday afternoon.
The 50,000-pound whale reemerged Sunday morning when it washed up on the beach. The whale appeared to be decomposing "very rapidly," he said.
By Monday, a team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries was headed to the beach to perform a necropsy on the bloated whale, officials said.
"This whale is floating like a balloon," Mansur said.
Mansur examined the adult male, which was lying left side up, and believes he died of natural causes. There were no visible lacerations, and no indications the whale had been struck by a ship.
"It was a clean-looking whale," he said. "This whale was so fresh that the sharks hadn't found it yet."
Mansur said some beachgoers have reported seeing sharks in the water, but the sightings have not been confirmed.
And as if one whale weren't enough, the carcass of a second gray whale was also seen floating off T-Street Beach near San Clemente Pier, Mansur said.
Unlike the first whale, the second carcass appeared to be fully decomposed.
All that remained of the whale was its skin, he said.
Mansur said it was "extremely unusual" to see two dead whales this time of year. Mansur, a certified marine naturalist, said he typically sees one dead whale per year.
Although these two sightings were rare, Mansur believes the deaths were a coincidence.
"We know and expect to get dead animals," he said. "It's just nature."
State lifeguards also planned to move the mass of flesh away from the shore before high winds sweep over the ocean water.
Up to 37 mph winds were expected along the coast Monday.
Gale-force winds could hamper efforts to remove the carcass, Mansur said.
Burying the whales in the sandy beach is not an option, he said.
A buried carcass decomposes and releases oil, and attracts sharks from several miles away, he said. A buried whale carcass takes years to decompose.
The sight of a decomposing whale drew professional surfer Kelly Slater to the beach Sunday.
"Im sure that #BeachedWhale oil should keep the crowds to a minimum coming into summer! Sketchy," Slater wrote on Instagram. "Great white sightings sure seemed to coincide with the burying of a whale 15+ years back by Trails."
Surfer Kalani Robb shot a short video showing a small crowd of beachgoers gazing at the beached whale.
"Guess I won't be surfing lowers right now #deadwhale," he wrote on Instagram.
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