Community works together to move dead fin whale from Samish Island

SAMISH ISLAND - Local residents and volunteers gathered Friday morning on the shore of Samish Bay to try to move the carcass of the 40-ton fin whale that died Tuesday morning after beaching itself.

Those gathered Friday waited for the tide to go out so that they could access the sand underneath the whale.

Volunteers planned to use slings, buoys and lift bags to move the whale. Lift bags are air-tight bags with straps that when filled with air are used to lift heavy objects underwater.

The community raised about $9,000 to spend on lift bags, and plans to set up a GoFundMe page.

Government agencies would not or could not remove the whale.

VIDEO: Beached fin whale

While whale carcasses provide food for the surrounding ecosystem, they also have a srong smell while in the process of decomposition.

"Who wants to go through the summer with a whale in your front yard?" said organizer Tony Breckenridge.

"They sure don't need this whale here for the Fourth of July."

On Friday afternoon, volunteers had dug trenches under the carcass to be able to pull straps through.

The group was hoping that with the attached gear, the subadult 60-foot whale would float later Friday as the tide comes in, allowing the volunteers to tow it off the shore of Samish Island.

The group plans to use a private boat to move the whale to a location it is not disclosing due to widespread interest in the whale.

In the days since the whale was found beached on Samish Island, a large number of visitors have been walking through private property to see the it. Residents saw a man allegedly jump on the whale and stab it, said Breckenridge.

Visitors cannot legally take any parts of the whale without a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration permit.

Fin whales are considered endangered by the state and federal governments.

The jaw of the whale will go to a museum.

"It's going to have such a good afterlife," said Samish Island resident Kimberley Boal, who was with the whale when it died.

The whale had been seen in Puget Sound since September, and in Bellingham Bay in the past month.

Samples of the whale were taken this week to determine genetics, possible illness and internal injuries.

Cascadia Research Collective announced that it had found that the whale was malnourished, with an ulcerative skin condition and severe internal injuries suffered during the process of being beached and stranded.

The collective wrote that there was evidence of recent entanglement and "non-lethal interaction with killer whales."

Researchers may get more information on the whale's condition when they receive the results of tissue analysis in coming weeks.

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