ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — U.S. officials have advised boaters to steer clear of a dead humpback whale that has been spotted in The Gulf of Alaska’s Knik Arm.
Julie Speegle, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, said the administration started receiving calls Saturday evening about the male humpback near Point MacKenzie, KTVA-TV reported (http://bit.ly/2xwWyFl ) Wednesday.
A military crew verified the location of the carcass, Speegle said.
“They were able to get blubber samples and skin samples, and then they attached an orange buoy to it,” Speegle said.
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The whale’s age and cause of death were not clear from that initial examination, she said.
“We have no plans to do a necropsy, because it would just be too dangerous to secure it with the tides going out against the whale,” Speegle said. “Do not approach the whale — it’s got that orange buoy on it, we know about it and people know to avoid it.”
Officials received reports earlier in the year of two live gray whales swimming in Knik Arm, marking 2017 an above-average season for whale sightings in the area.
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Information from: KTVA-TV, http://www.ktva.com