Scientists to leave blue whale carcass to decompose

Scientists completed a full necropsy Thursday. Marine Mammal Center scientists took tissue and blubber samples and scientists with the California Academy of Sciences took a pelvic bone, Rulli said.

The academy already has a pretty extensive whale bone collection, he said.

“We are leaving the carcass to naturally decompose,” Rulli said.

The 65-foot sub-adult carcass is on a beach below a sheer cliff and not near a residential area so the smell of the decomposing carcass is likely to affect few people.

Blue whales are the largest animal on Earth and an endangered species. The necropsy will give scientists solid baseline information to share with other scientists.

The whale was already pretty much decomposed when it got to shore, Rulli said.

Scientists were able to discover that the back of the whale’s skull was fractured in multiple places and the surrounding tissue had massive hemorrhaging.

Rulli could not say how the whale died. The injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma, but he said the whale could have been struck after it died from lack of food or some other cause.