2 Gray Whales Buried at Sunset Beach

Workers buried two whales Wednesday on Sunset County Beach after the pair of 30-foot mammals washed up nearby earlier in the day.

The California gray whales, one weighing 5 tons and the other 15 tons, were hoisted into a 12-foot-deep trench dug by bulldozers as spectators stood by.

The larger whale, a 33-foot male, was at least 5 years old and probably died of natural causes, officials said. The other, a 30-foot female estimated at 2 years of age, was tangled in remains of a fishing net that may have contributed to her death.

The spectacle of two whales being buried in the sand attracted curious residents.

“I’d never seen a whale up close like that,” said Greg Magusin, who lives nearby. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Officials said finding a dead whale on a local beach is not unusual but that finding two at the same time is rare.

“We usually see two dead whales each year in Orange County, not in one day,” said Lt. Marty Kasules of the Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol.

Statewide, 12 gray whales have beached so far this year, including four on Wednesday: the two in Orange County, a third in San Diego County and a fourth in Santa Barbara County. Last year 47 were found in California, up sharply from 30 in 1998, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

But authorities said they have no reason to believe a whale die-off is in progress.

“It’s unusual but nothing more than a coincidence. One was affected by fishing gear. Another could have died from natural causes. They just happened to come up at the same time, close to each other,” said John Heyning, a mammal curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

At least one dead whale was sighted in the surf Tuesday, and Kasules said his office received a call about the first beached whale on Sunset County Beach at 4:20 a.m. Wednesday. A second call came at 6 a.m. after another dead whale was found in Anaheim Bay at the U.S. Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach.

The second whale was towed by boat to Sunset Beach to be buried with the other. Whales are typically buried in the sand where they are found because taking them out to sea just makes burial someone else’s problem, Kasules said.

Heyning and Orange County officials said burying whales at the beach is a standard practice that does not pose a health risk.

“There are whales buried all along that beach, and people just don’t know it. It’s more of a risk to have that whale floating around in the ocean or washing up on a neighbor’s beach and have people hit by it while swimming,” Heyning said.

Marine biologists are working to determine the causes of death for the two whales found Wednesday.

Heyning, who took the whales’ measurements and skin samples for genetic testing, said he will try to determine the origin of gill netting found on one of the whales. California has banned gill nets, which can kill dolphins and whales, but the animal may have run afoul of it outside of state waters, he said.