Now you see it, now you... still see it.
The dead whale that floated up to a marsh near Gloucester Point over the weekend is still there, while the state, the county and the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center try to figure out whose problem it is.
It first appeared that the homeowner whose property was gifted by the tide with the carcass of the young humpback whale might have to dispose of it, but help may be on the way. The aquarium's stranding team is helping coordinate efforts by Gloucester County and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to determine who has jurisdiction, and who will pay for removal.
All involved - especially those downwind - are hoping that the whale can be towed to a remote location where it can be buried or left to decompose in peace, well away from public noses.
"Right now, it is unclear whether the water the whale is in belongs to the property owner, the county or the state," said Linda M. Candler, marketing director at the aquarium. "Hopefully, this will be sorted out quickly."
The whale is near the mouth of the Perrin River, a tributary to the York River. The animal, first spotted Saturday near the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, was extremely bloated, which helped it float from the ocean across the Bay and up the river, Candler said.
The stranding team took tissue samples and one flipper that appeared to have some trauma. However, it is possible that the cause of death will never be determined, Candler said.
Mike Peters, who lives near Gloucester Point, boated out to see the whale - "How often do you run across a whale, particularly in Gloucester?" - but quashed his initial desire to have his picture taken on top of it, acknowledging that the smell was terrible.
"It was bad," Peters said. "I've smelled a lot of bad stuff in life, but that topped it off."
All marine mammals, alive or dead, are protected by federal law, and it is illegal to touch them without permission.
Local resident Faye Jones said she watched through binoculars as boaters approached the whale.
"They got away quickly," she said. "And we found out why they got away quickly. We are upwind of it now. Jenkins Neck probably has it bad."
The whale grounded first on Allens Island, she said, but wind and a tide higher than usual refloated it and brought it to the Perrin River.
"It is unreal," she said. "That's the last thing you expect to see. We've lived here since 1980 and never seen anything like that before."
Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Dead Whale - Thar she blows!
If it deadonates, could the homeowner rename the scene Whale Blown Junction?
Dead Whale - Thar she blows!
If a picture says a thousand words, then these videos of a dead Sperm Whale exploding while being hauled through the crowded streets of Taiwan says it ALL... Nat Geo's take on the explosive power is 2 - 5 lbs of TNT. Who needs ACME when you have a bloated whale carcass?
Actual video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sC0nTHN960
National Geographic: (and I DO mean grAPHic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leKVfJcXqck
THAR she BLOWS...
dinner anyone?
I would stay away from the sushi joints around there for a while!
VDOT
I have a good idea. Lets call VDOT. They are the ones we should blame anyway.
Federal Law, Federal Problem
From the article:
"All marine mammals, alive or dead, are protected by federal law, and it is illegal to touch them without permission."
If this is the case let the feds get rid of it. Specifically, the idiot congress critters who voted to "protect" dead whales should have to come down from D.C. and shovel it up.
??
Better move it quick before the treasurer sends a bill for a license.
Sushi
Sushi anyone?!!
Not My Job
If the whale was spotted in the Bay and the stranded team/fish wildlife did not respond till it beached it self maybe the owner now has a Lawsuit available to him for someone not doing there job and depriving him use of his home because of the smell, I am sure there is a Lawyer around that would take the case!.
Property right?
I wonder if the homeowner had an unregistered boat moored in that same spot, would he receive a summons? Or is his boat on private property?
hehehehe
sell it to Japan :)
dead whale
if a human body was to wash up on his property is it his responsibility to get rid of the body.our city goverments will do anything to charge us extra money to fatten private bank accounts.
Here's what the homeowner needs to do....
A couple years ago I had the pleasure of walking out to get my newspaper out of the box and discovered that someone had hit a deer during the night and it was now laying on the shoulder of the road in front of my house....well not all of it was laying in the one spot....it was kind of all over the place...anyway...there must have been a hundred buzzards all in the trees, my yard, fence, etc....so I went in and called the City and reported this mess, I was told that VDOT would pick the carcass up on Monday, now this was on Saturday....then they asked me where the deer was laying, I told them and they said it was my responsibility to dispuse of the carcass, it was considered to be on my property...so I marched out to the deer, grabbed it by the legs and drug it into the road, then I called the City back and told them that there was a dead deer in the road, they immediately sent someone out to remove it. So the homeowner needs to tow the whale out into the channel and cut'er loose! Someone will step up and get the thing moved!
Good thought But.....
I'm not sure dragging into shipping lanes is the answer and in fact you may be buying yourself a lawsuit.
In NC the state or county owns the real estate to the mean high watermark....assuming that holds true in VA I don't see how the property owner would be liable for some carcass that is marooned on a spit away from terra firma.
Wonder if one's homeowners covers festering whale blubber???
whale
just leave it there winter comming and it will wash back out and may be end up in NORFORK and you can bet it will be a STATE problem
Bring in the Navy Seals
Why not let our amazing Seals practice a bit and blow the thing to smithereens?
Stink and --------
I say, dynamite it to break it up, the pieces will be attacked by decomposing organisms and(under water) it will cease polluting the air.
The last time a whale was
The last time a whale was blown up blubber rained down on people, cars, and houses. It created a much bigger mess than leaving it intact.
Well, if I'm that property owner..
and they said the whale is my problem, I would immediately put up a fence and restrict all access to the water from my property. Fair's fair, right? And they say alive or dead, you can't touch the whale? This is comical. Is the article implying that the land owners can own the WATER as well? Is that sold extra, or is it part of the deal to begin with?
Dead Whale
If the Man owns the Swamp next to the water where the Whale is located, but he is prevented from using his own Property that he probably pays Taxes on, then his Land has been taken from him and his best use of his own Property.
How can the EnviroNazis take/steal private property by stealth but expect him to clean it up?
We are not Russia!
An idea
To get rid of the whale you first need to get to it. Since it is the homeowner's problem to get rid of it he/she will need to build a pier out to the dead whale. Then they can get rid of the whale. Since you need to get 3000 permits to do construction on wetlands, it will not be possible to remove the pier. Maybe they can hire out the use of the dead whale and move it from place to place and each person will have to build a pier and after be unable to remove it. Using this approach there may not be enough dead whale for the demand.