VENICE : Navy Says Destroyer Had Hit a Whale 6 Days Ago
A Navy destroyer hit a whale off Southern California six days before a dead humpback washed onto Venice Beach, but a Navy spokesman in San Diego said Tuesday that it was not known if it was the same whale.
The Callaghan struck a whale with its propeller on the afternoon of Feb. 27 as it was heading into Long Beach Harbor, said Lt. Cmdr. Frank Thorp. The Navy does not know what kind of whale the destroyer hit, Thorp said.
The carcass of a 25-foot humpback whale, an endangered species, washed onto Los Angeles’ Venice Beach on Sunday, and marine experts said it had been struck by a ship’s propeller about six days earlier.
Venice Beach is about 20 miles northwest of Long Beach Harbor, with the Palos Verdes Peninsula between the two.
The Callaghan, which is based in San Diego, was on a “family cruise,” in which sailors bring their families aboard for a day to experience life on a ship, when it struck the whale.
At first, the crew did not know what the ship had hit. The ship shuddered on impact, and the lookout at the stern saw blood in the water and what appeared to be a whale, Thorp said.
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