What's that you say? A blue whale washed up...?!

Sooooo...don't know if ya'll heard the news - A 72-foot female blue whale washed ashore just south of Fort Bragg, CA (Oct. 19). Evidently, she was struck by a NOAA (ironic, no?) research vessel. Reportedly, the skipper felt the ship hit something, then a bit later a blue whale was seen surfacing with blood gushing out of her...and it is likely that this same whale is the one that washed up dead. How SAD. There are somewhere around 12.000 of these animals left in the world, only a fraction of their population before they were nearly hunted to extinction. Blue whales are the largest animal EVER to have lived on our planet, females can be over 100 ft in length, and weigh just under 200 tons! Because of their size, blue whales do not have any natural predators (at least in this present time period), but it has been noted that killer whales do attack them. Their biggest threats are ship collisions. Two weeks ago, another blue whale washed ashore in Monterey. In the past few years, more blue whales have been documented struck by ships/washing up on beaches in California. Ships need to slow their roll, seriously. I understand that they aren't deliberately trying to hit this animal, but there is almost no good reason that they are being struck. Blu whales are as long as some of these giganic ships, and they are slow moving! They feed on near the surface for goodness sake! They can't really ever sneak up on you now, c'mon! Rant over.

So on my way from Hoopa, I took a 3 hour detour hoping to see this blue whale. I've NEVER seen a blue whale, alive or dead. And, it would be amazing to see one, either way - though I would prefer alive. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and after doing a little research on the internet, I discovered that I could go see the whale, if I went through botanical gardens. Soooo...I drove the winding road from 101 to Fort Bragg, and did the whole sneaky-sneak trying to find where the beach access was to see the whale type thing, even though I was trying not to look like it. Hahaha...well, I got to the botanical gardens and found out it cost money to go through, so I got back into my car. On the way noticing another couple doing the sneaky-sneak. I found a road close-by with coastal access, but couldn't actually find the beach...so I went a few miles more south, and found a trail through the woods to the beach. I was way too far south, but got a few nice pics on a cliff. At least I saw the ocean. So then I went back to the botanical gardens, willing to pay, so long as I could see the whale. BUT! When I talked to the lady who works there, she told me NO! I kinda think it is because they don't want people to snoop around looking for the whale, but she said it was on private property. And that they were fining people who were trespassing, and that the whale was 1/4 mile more south. I got a bit discouraged, seeing as I took an enormous detour to see the whale. So I went back to the beach access road about 1/4 mile down the road. Then I found a sign that said I couldn't see the whale from that point, and she was more north on private property. UGH! Defeated. And I don't have the money to pay a fine, so I got back in my car and drove another 3.5 hours home, and hung my head in shame.

My search for the whale:



No whale, but look what else I found: