4th June 2009

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‘Uber-dead’ whale gets mixed reactions

The Anchorage Daily News has spawned a kerfuffle by reporting the death of a humpback whale.

The whale was struck by an oil tanker headed into the terminal at Valdez. It remains unclear whether or not the animal was already dead at the time of the collision. (Despite the ADN’s original headline, noted in the comments section: “Humpback whale killed by oil tanker.”)

The humpback, estimated at between 40 and 50 feet long, was carried into port by the vessel. On Tuesday, it was hauled back out to sea.

Commentors on the Anchorage Daily News site, in between criticizing what they deem shoddy reporting (but that’s normal for any newspaper message board, let me tell you), have expressed varied opinions about what should have been done with the floating beast.

“Really, beach it in Valdez and call a ‘potlach’ meeting,” writes eclaytonlewis. “I would think that the subsistence/traidtional [sic] folks would speed in their vehicles to get some humpback.”

Poison-penned anonymous_girly counters, “To the people claiming ‘subsistence meat’: This is a 3 day old (possibly and likely more than 3 day old) rotting, bloated, smelly, Uber-dead whale.”

My favorite comment comes from conspiracy theorist anymouse, who writes, “First ducks hit an airplane and now a whale hits an oil tanker. Is the animal kingdom trying to give us a message?” And, on second thought, adds, “I am not sure what the messages might be.”

Tags whalesAlaskamysteries