LIHU‘E — A beached whale closed Lydgate Beach on Saturday, as a host of local, state and federal agencies responded to the scene that drew numerous spectators.
The roughly 56-foot long, 60-ton sperm whale was first sighted on a reef on Friday evening before a high tide eventually brought it ashore on Saturday morning.
“It looks like the whale most likely died at sea, and then blew in on the winds, the trade winds,” said Jamie Thomton of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, who referred to the whale as being in the large adult male category, in a video interview provided by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
On-scene video showed personnel from a number of agencies at the site, including a man wearing a red T-shirt attempting to put a strap around part of the whale in order for it to be removed from the shore break.
Once the strap was secured, a work crew then slowly inched the whale ashore with the use of heavy motorized equipment. The cause of death was to be determined at a later time. Shark warning signs were also posted at the scene.
“We will look at the animal thoroughly, externally, to see if there are any signs of external wounds,” said Mimi Olry, who is the marine mammal response field coordinator on Kaua‘i for the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources, in a video interview provided by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
She said the exam process would look for such things as a boat strike, netting scars or signs of some fishery entanglement on the whale. The on-site exam was to be conducted by a team from the University of Hawai‘i Health and Stranding Lab.
Planning is underway for the final disposition of the whale’s remains.
Sperm whales are listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
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Wyatt Haupt Jr., editor, can be reached at 808-245-0457 or whaupt@thegardenisland.com.
