A grey whale washed up on shore out in Sooke over the past weekend, so of course I had to go take a look. It's not very often, if at all, you get the chance to get up and close with one of these giants. It was sad to see one dead, especially one so young, but it was a great learning experience. There's still some discussion between the biologists as to what caused the juvenile male's death, but one of the more prominent theories is that he was attacked by orcas. He has big parallel gashes on his body that are the calling signs of orca bites. Although I can't help but wonder why they didn't finish the job? Apparently there was a grey whale spotted in the area over the past 12 days...my guess is that he was sick, but obviously I'm no expert.
There were lots of kids out there looking at him. Two school busses over the couple of hours I was there and tons of parents with children. If my daughter was in school, I would have pulled her out to go there. It was really neat seeing the baleen close up and all the barnacles on his body. I heard some kids say his skin felt like plastic, but I didn't touch him.
It was hard to get any good shots since it was so busy down there, but here are some of the ones I did get:
There were lots of kids out there looking at him. Two school busses over the couple of hours I was there and tons of parents with children. If my daughter was in school, I would have pulled her out to go there. It was really neat seeing the baleen close up and all the barnacles on his body. I heard some kids say his skin felt like plastic, but I didn't touch him.
It was hard to get any good shots since it was so busy down there, but here are some of the ones I did get:
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