Yahoo News Rare pygmy sperm whale washes up on California beach with 'bullet hole in its head'
A rare pygmy sperm whale washed up on a California beach, with what appeared to be a bullet hole in its head.
Federal authorities are now investigating, as marine mammals in the US are protected from harm by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Lifeguard, Todd Shanklin, who was on duty at the San Onofre State Beach, discovered the carcass last Friday, according to the Daily Mail.
He was unsure what type of whale it was, so took pictures of it and sent them to his friend, Jim Serpa, who is the former Doheny State Beach supervisor.
Mr Serpa confirmed to Mr Shanklin that the whale was a rare pygmy, and immediately drove over to the beach.
He told local publication, the OC Register: “Todd said he looked at the head, and it kind of reminded him of a sperm whale only different.”
Mr Serpa added: “But when I saw the big bulbous head, the tiny dorsal fin way back on its back and the dagger teeth, I knew exactly what it was. It also had an odd blowhole that’s farther up than any other whale and slightly off-centre.
“As I walked up to it, I knew my ID from the first photos was correct.”
When Mr Serpa arrived at the beach, he noticed that the pygmy whale had what appeared to be a hole in its head.
Mr Shanklin notified the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the situation, and they said they will inspect the carcass later this week.
Despite Mr Serpa’s claims, Justin Viezbicke, a marine mammal stranding coordinator, told The OC Register that “this is a deep-diving species, and these small sharks commonly bite them and the resulting wound is a perfect circular wound that we get misidentified all the time.
“This species is deep diving and the chances it came across someone with a gun is much lower than that of it being a shark bit.” Mr Viezbicke added.
Neither Mr Serpa or Mr Shanklin had ever seen a pygmy sperm whale in person before, and they are unsure how it ended up on the beach.
“Scientists say the Pacific is super warm right now, so maybe it just came up here in a warm patch,” Mr Serpa said. “Or, maybe they are here more than we know, and we don’t see them because they shy away from us.”
