One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Videos: 60,000 Pound Whale Carcass Gets Cut Up And Trucked Off To The Landfill �?�
Imagine you're the person responsible for keeping San Onofre State Beach clean and usable for the general public. Usually your job isn't too hard, mostly limited to making sure visitors don't leave their garbage on the sand.
But imagine the instant headache caused by information that the 60,000-pound, 40-foot long carcass of a California gray whale had washed up on Lower Trestles beach and was beginning to decompose.
This is the position Kevin Pearsall, a public safety superintendent for California state parks in Orange County, found himself in last Sunday when a large, dead, gray whale did indeed wash up on the beach he is partially responsible for stewarding. While the whale, at first, was somewhat a curiosity—an attraction for instagraming visitors to gawk at—five days of decomposition is quickly turning the animal's body into an immensely smelly, objectively disgusting mess that needs to be cleaned up ASAP.
While state officials initially considered towing the whale's carcass back out to sea, they've since decided to remove the remains "by land" because tidal movements would likely just send the whale back onto shore, the L.A. Times reported on Wednesday.
"By land" is simply a nice way of saying cutting up the carcass with construction equipment, loading the remains into trucks and carting it off to a nearby landfill.
"We continue to recommend that everybody stay away," said Pearsall to the L.A. Times on Thursday morning, emphasizing that the site is not particularly spectator friendly, especially for children.
Sponsored message
The whale-removal work has been tasked to an emergency contractor, and will cost approximately $30,000 in total.
But again, "It's going to be something you can't un-see" said State Parks Superintendent Rich Haydon to the OC Register. "It's not going to be pretty."
It really isn't. OC Register reporter Jeff Gritchen is documenting the process on Twitter. Take a look below. Or don't, it's pretty unsettling. �?��?��?�
Getting rid of the tail #trestles @ocregister pic.twitter.com/lIHWqtWVNm
— Jeff Gritchen (@jeffgritchen) April 28, 2016
Cutting up the whale #trestles @ocregister pic.twitter.com/BR9i4pYOMN
— Jeff Gritchen (@jeffgritchen) April 28, 2016
Prepping the whale #trestles @ocregister pic.twitter.com/YY5TFsggbB
— Jeff Gritchen 🇺🇸 (@jeffgritchen) April 28, 2016
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
