Strawberry Point
For those of you who may have missed my previous article, A Sad Gray Whale of A Tale, last June while conducting our survey for the COASST program we came upon the carcass of a decomposing Gray Whale just south of our survey beach near Strawberry Point.
For our July survey, we were anxious to go back and check on the state of the carcass. Surprisingly, or at least to me, almost all of the soft tissue was gone. The remaining bones were scattered over a wide area as well. I’m assuming that was due to scavenging.
From everything I’ve read, it seems awfully accelerated. Does anyone have any experience with this? I’d love to hear your comments below.
Decomposition
Where does a dead whale go? A dead cetacean may end up on a shoreline or beach or may float in the ocean for a period of time before sinking to the seafloor. After death, if the carcass ends up on a beach, it plays an important role in its surrounding terrestrial ecosystem, often immediately becoming prey to a number of scavengers and omnivorous species, including seabirds, wolves and bears.
Decomposition begins almost immediately after death and there are several processes that begin to break down various parts of a cetacean’s body. Autolysis (the process in which cells or tissues are broken down by naturally occurring enzymes), bacterial decomposition, putrification (the process of breaking down proteins and is responsible for organ liquefaction), and fermentation all occur and all produce noxious gases such as CO2, methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia.
I have to admit that given all of this information I still am surprised at how quickly our Strawberry Point Gray Whale decomposed.
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Looking out over Crescent Bay from Tongue Point. We recently experienced the lowest tides in a decade here in Washington.
Did our #COASST bird survey this weekend during some of the lowest tides in a decade. We could have walked out to the sea stacks off shore which I’ve never seen exposed like this. Of course, what goes out must come in…so we didn’t.
Red Sky in the Morning... it's supposed to be a warning, but I'll take it.
Wild and Scenic Rivers Project - Getting the collection gear and probes ready for tomorrows survey. Looks like we’ll get a break in the weather during the morning hours so that’s when we’ll be heading out. Looking forward to seeing what changes Mother Winter has wrought on the Suiattle River.
Headed back to the North Cascades to resume our Wild and Scenic River Surveys.
We’ll be shortly resuming our data collection for the #getwildandscenic project on the Suiattle River. Sensors have been calibrated and sent to us along with all our water sample collection bottles and chemicals. Looking forward to getting back out into the North Cascades.
We just received our collection kit from #adventurescientist. We’ll shortly being heading back out to the Suiattle River to start another season of data collection.
View of the south rim of the Dusty Lake region just to the east of the Columbia River near Vantage, WA. Here a small waterfall drains into the lake.
You never know what a simple hike through the woods will yield. Found this small dam in the hills behind our camp on Hood Canal. I'm guessing that at one time it was used by a hometead to hold water during the summer months.
Sunset over Westport.
Some of the lush green and waterfalls to be found on the Olympic Peninsula.
South shore of Dusty Lake just north of Vantage, Washington. We recently spent a night hoping for a shot of the Milky Way. That didn't happen as hoped, but we had quite the adventure nonetheless.
Just published our latest adventure - "A Visit to North Cove" - You can find the link in my bio up top. https://buff.ly/3KFAQB8
Tongue Point on the Strait of Juan de Fuco. This was a negative tide and I’ve never seen so much of the reef exposed.
Never seen the tide so low here at Crescent Bay. Getting ready for this weekends #COASST bird survey.
Theresa doing her best to imidate the North head Lighthouse.
Gases accumulate in the body cavity of a deceased cetacean causing, in some cases, extreme bloating. An estimated 3-5 atmospheres of pressure can build inside the whale, equivalent to the pressure experienced diving 40 meters underwater. Eventually, these gases find a means of escaping the body through weak points in the connective tissue, skin, and blubber.
This process can occur rapidly, resulting in an explosive event, where gases and organs may be propelled several meters from a whale upon release, or slowly if several points of escape are present. Once the bloating has ceased, decomposition will continue to occur until all tissue has been broken down and only the skeleton remains.
