Posted on 10/6/2009, 10:55:09 PM by Libloather
Dead whale in Tampa Bay was hit by ship
The Associated Press
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 2:41 p.m.
ST. PETERSBURG - The 41-foot-whale found floating in the Port of Tampa last weekend was killed by a ship out in the Gulf of Mexico.
That was the word Tuesday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which performed a necropsy.
**SNIP**
He said it was "a clear-cut case of a ship strike."
The animal was found floating in Tampa Bay Sunday morning. It was towed to Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg, where it was buried Monday.
I thought he died of brain cancer.
Its amazing at whats out in our bay. I agree though they should have thrown it back. Plenty of sharks to eat it.
That is just too funny!
Why, oh why, did these idiots bury a whale?
Maybe they didn’t want to scare Mickey Moore.
BREAKING: Obama is now appointing a Czar responsible from bringing lawsuits against those responsible for murdering of any creatures living in the oceans of the entire world.
The actual Port of Tampa is a long way from the Gulf. I wonder how they determined that the collision occured in the Gulf? Unless the trauma to the whale was sufficient to indicate that the collision had happened at a much higher speed than would be likely in Tampa Bay.
Was the whale carried into the bay / port under the bow of a ship (like the whale in the Inside Passage in Canada), then dropped off the ship (UNlike the whale in the Inside Passage in Canada)?
They bury these whale carcasses so that they don’t wash up on someone else’s beach after “throwing it back”. Anyone ever smell a dead whale? Believe me, it’s the last thing you want floating around out there putrifying in open water. The stench would carry for miles and last for days if not weeks.
Besides, if you were the poor unlucky SOB of a Public Employee who had to dispose of this, you would do so in a manner that was as quick and efficient as possible. Burying the carcass in the sand fits that bill...towing it back out to sea does not.
That is the proper way to remove a whale.
see #4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.