This has been a big week for COASSTers and marine mammal finds. First, Oregon volunteers Jacqueline and Steve found a dead almost fully intact sea otter washed ashore on their beach. They reported it to the marine mammal stranding network, who performed a necropsy, and determined that this male adolescent otter died of a shark bite!
A few days, later Washington volunteers Larry and Patti stumbled upon a massive, recently beached Gray Whale. The initial necropsy shows that this 39-foot mature adult female died in a collision with a vessel “smaller than a container ship.”
As a reminder, stranded live or dead marine mammals should be reported to your local Marine Mammal Stranding Network coordinator. For more information on this, see our previous post on reporting.