A dead, 50-foot-long fin whale floated in Tacoma’s Commencement Bay on Friday, May 12, 2017.
It's a rare find in Puget Sound, dead or alive. The Department of Fish and Wildlife says a dead fin whale turned up in Commencement Bay Friday, apparently struck by a cargo ship.
"What likely happened here is this fin whale was part of a group, and it got struck outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and then that ship just pushed all the way into Commencement Bay in Tacoma," said Michael Harris.
Harris is the former executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association and has studied whales most of his life. He's not sure what to make of this latest fin whale. He says commercial hunters nearly wiped out fin whales, along with humpback, until it was banned in 1966. Since then, fins have been making a comeback on the coast.
"We've seen large congregations of fin whales pretty regularly outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but they're starting to work their way in more and more," said Harris.
Comment: Two days earlier in California a similar event happened: Woman shoots and kills pit bull in Orcutt dog attack