Many social media posts have been speculating that Oregon State Parks will be blowing up a beached whale later this month.
According to Oregon State Parks today June 5, 2024:
“History isn’t repeating itself.
It isn’t happening.
A necropsy on the humpback whale that washed ashore on the North Coast (Nehalem Bay State Park) in late May combined with natural decomposition has left nothing but an unrecognizable blob and a horrible stench.
Our guess is no one wants to see it or smell it.
Also, what little remains is in a snowy plover management area. The birds are trying to nest and hordes of people traipsing through their area causes the nests to fail.
No one wants this to happen. Don’t go there, please.
Learn about snowy plover management areas and why it’s so important to leave them be at oregon.gov/plovers
For the curious, here’s a photo of what remains of remains. The photo was taken several days ago and we can guarantee it looks worse now.”
Image description: The remains of an actively decomposing whale on the sand.
Here are links to the Pioneer’s coverage of the whale: