8 NEWS & EVENTS
Whales
on the move
The annual Whale Festivals could get
even more attention than usual this year
because, on October 2009, a dead female
blue whale washed ashore on a rocky part
of the coast south of Fort Bragg. The
whale, which had been injured by a boat’s
propeller, was over 70 feet long. A research
team from Humboldt State University’s
Museum in Arcata came to collect data
from this mammal. The blue whale is the
world’s largest living animal. Along with
the humpback whale and the gray whale,
the blue whale is a baleen whale, which
feeds on tiny crustaceans that it strains
through baleen plates in its mouth.
A hastily assembled work crew cleaned,
packed and labeled the bones, which were
then moved and buried in soil at a private
location, which will aid in decomposition
of the soft tissue. Ultimately, local people
hope that the skeleton will be reassembled
at the College of the Redwoods or on the
GP property.
by the Ford House Visitor Center. For
information, call the Ford House at 937-
5397.
Until killing of gray whales became
illegal in 1971, their population had
been reduced to 12,000 individuals, and
a recent study found that there are now
about 100,000 individuals which migrate
from the Bering Sea to Baja California and
back every year.
Back in the 1960s, local activist Byrd
Baker and artist JD Mayhew became
advocates for gray whale protection,
and the town of Mendocino encouraged
merchants not to sell imports from Japan,
one of the few nations harvesting whales.
The Whale Festivals in March take
place on March 6-7 in Mendocino, on
March 20-21 in Fort Bragg, and Little
River’s first Whale Festival on the weekend
of March 13-14. During the weekends of
March 6-7 and 20-21, from 10 a.m. until
4 p.m., docents of the Point Cabrillo Light
Keepers at Point Cabrillo Light Station
State Historic Park will help novice whale
watchers locate migrating whales.
lighthouse events are asked to park at the
NANCY BARTH
Those attending can also see historic
exhibits about the wreck of the “Frolic”
in 1850, study tidepool creatures in an
aquarium, see a display of US Coast Guard
Auxiliary equipment, and exhibits from
the Audubon Society and The Marine
Mammal Center. People attending the
This event was widely publicized locally
and nationally. In addition to the gray
whales, which have a predictable migration
pattern, blue whales and humpback whales
can often be seen along the Mendocino
Coast from August through October.
Orcas and several species of dolphins are
usually seen far offshore, but occasionally
come close to the coast.
