Cause of death for whale undetermined

NEWPORT, Ore. --Experts could not determine what killed a 40-foot-long whale that washed ashore at Seal Rock last weekend.

Bruce Mate, director of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute in Newport, said Tuesday that the female whale had a basketball-sized abscess, but it's not clear whether that contributed to her death.

"This abscess is clearly something that had been going on for some time with this poor animal," Mate said.

Mate said tissue, urine, eye fluid and a sample of the abscess will all be tested to see whether they provide clues as to what killed the whale.

The whale washed ashore after it was spotted dead in the ocean last week. It was one of about 20,000 gray whales that have been migrating this spring from breeding lagoons in Mexico to feeding grounds in Alaska.

Officials are determining when and where to dispose of the 30-ton whale.

If a high tide fails to wash the whale out to sea, state park officials plan to bury the carcass about a mile north of the rocky beach where it washed ashore. John Allen, the north coast regional manager for Oregon Parks and Recreation, said the earliest the whale could be moved would be Thursday.

A contractor will use a tractor to drag the carcass to a sandy area, and a backhoe will be used to dig a hole to bury the whale. Allen said it takes about a year for a whale to decompose.

Meanwhile, state police and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration agents are looking for whoever is responsible for taking parts from the whale, which is a federal crime.

Someone took the baleen from the whale's right jaw and parts of the body and skin, said Sgt. Todd Thompson of the Oregon State Police.

------

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com