The Dead Whale

[Mitzi M]

As excited as I am about the chance to see cetaceans up close, and as cool as it would be to have some awesome bones (if it weren't against the law to get them) last week I had to hike a ways upwind of the carcass and I will tell you truly that the way it smelled was profoundly disturbing. I count it as a great accomplishment that I managed not to eject cookies(barely). The strange and awful, gut wrenching stench seemed to somehow linger in my nose (or memory) for a couple of days even after I showered a few times and had washed my clothes. I can only recommend gawking with binoculars from far far upwind.

BTW - it sure looked like a humpback to me but then I wasn't so close. A friend told me about how they initially found the whale outside the breakwater in March and the folks on the UH vessel watched a bunch of tiger sharks taking huge chunks of it. I think they were pretty sure it was a humpback.(?)