The 20-foot juvenile humpback whale that washed ashore yesterday near Waldport has been euthanized today after efforts to save the mammal failed.
Several teams, coordinated by the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, attempted to get the whale back into the ocean but it remained stranded for more than a day.
Chris Havel, spokesperson for Oregon Parks and Rec, says this was the best option to save the whale from more pain.
“This is a very long shallow beach. It’s not just a matter of rolling it over and getting it to the water deep enough to swim,” says Havel. “It’s a far distance to get to water deep enough for the whale to swim and it just didn’t have the strength.”
Havel says researchers will collect samples from the whale before it is buried on the beach.