EMERYVILLE — A juvenile whale spotted swimming in the San Francisco Bay on several occasions in early April was beached on an offshore mudflat Tuesday, according to the Marine Mammal Center.
The Marine Mammal Center’s team made the decision to humanely euthanize the whale Tuesday afternoon in consultation with the center’s lead veterinarian “to relieve this animal of its suffering,” said Giancarlo Rulli, the associate director of public relations for the Marine Mammal Center.
“This is a very difficult decision that we worked very closely in conjunction with NOAA on, but it’s guided in how the animal has been behaving for the past week,” Rulli said. “It’s displaying signs that are abnormal for a whale to continue to beach itself consecutively like this over a week’s time.”
A minke whale — possibly the same species as the animal reported off Emeryville — and a gray whale were found dead this month in separate incidents along other portions of the California coast.
Following the euthanasia, the team’s pathologist will conduct an on-site necropsy to conduct an investigation into what caused the animal to continue to beach itself and whether there is a condition that cannot be determined by the naked eye, Rulli said. The necropsy will test for infectious diseases and neurotoxins, such as domoic acid, an algal toxin that has been poisoning dolphins and sea lions off the coast of California.
The whale was sprayed with water to keep it cool and to help relieve any suffering that came with being out of the water with its skin condition, Rulli added.
“We’re trying to make this animal as comfortable as possible, reduce the amount of stress as much as we possibly can, understanding that its in a very unnatural position right now,” Rulli said.
The East Bay Regional Park District and Alameda County Fire Department were also on site Tuesday afternoon to attempt to assist the animal unbeach itself, the park district said on social media.
The whale was beached at the McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, officials said.
The whale was first sighted swimming in a similar area on April 2. Around 2 p.m. Monday, the whale was temporarily stuck in a mud patch in a shallow area of the bay during low tide, the center said. The whale remained calm and moved back into deeper waters on its own around 4:30 p.m. during high tide.
The center noted that on Monday the whale “swam well under its own strength with good energy which our experts noted as a good sign.”
The center added that the whale’s exact age, sex and estimated length are not known, but Rulli noted that the team estimated the length to be about 20 feet. The center’s Cetacean Conservation Biology Team identified the whale to likely be a juvenile minke whale based on photographic evidence. When confirmed to be a minke whale, it will mark the fifth confirmed sighting in the past 16 years in the San Francisco Bay.
“This is quite a rare sighting,” Rulli said.
The biology team also noted that the whale is in good body condition. The whale had a section of red skin April 2 that on Tuesday appeared to be peeling white, which scientists said is likely healing from a skin condition or trauma.
Staff photographer Jane Tyska contributed to this report.