News

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/young_minke_whale_washes_up_ne.html

Biologists will open up a minke whale to see if they can determine why the rarely seen marine mammal died.

The young whale was found washed up near the South Jetty of the Columbia River bar today, said Keith Chandler, manager of the Seaside Aquarium. It measured just over 13 feet and was likely still nursing, but about to be weaned, he said.

Fully grown, minke - pronounced mink-ee - whales can reach up to 30 feet. The whales are common in these waters, but rarely wash ashore because they stay far out at sea, Chandler said.

Dr. Debbie Duffield, a professor of biology at Portland State University and coordinator of the North Coast Region Marine Mammal Stranding Network, will bring a class to Seaside on Wednesday to perform a necropsy on the whale.

"Whale calves are very valuable specimens to have. We've been doing the stranding network for 15 years and this is the first time I've seen one," she said. "This will give experts a chance to have an up close look at a marvelous animal, and hopefully we'll know more after we open it up."