Beaked Whale Fighting for Her Life in Laguna

Marine volunteers in Laguna Beach struggled Saturday to save a beaked whale that washed ashore near Malibu, nursing the 800-pound mammal back to life by pumping fluid into her belly and caressing her as she slept.

Rescuers remained mystified about why the whale beached herself Friday at Point Dume County Beach, where lifeguards found her battered, bruised and listing in the surf.

Marine mammal experts at Friends of the Sea Lion said the 18-month-old whale is suffering from a life-threatening kidney infection. They have administered antibiotics and flushed out her digestive system in an effort to rid her of the infection.

“One of the problems here is that nobody has really dealt with this type of animal before,” said Giovanni Chiarella, a paramedic and volunteer at the marine rescue center, adding that such whales are rarely seen or found beached.

Since the sickly mammal arrived on a stretcher Friday night, volunteers have been standing by her constantly in a small pool even as she slept, rocking her gently and hoping she will become restless for the ocean again.

“She’s swimming on her own now around the pool,” said Darah Himmelhoch, director of operations at Friends of the Sea Lion. “It’s a good sign, but I don’t know if it’s a mark of improvement.”

Though she doesn’t know the chances of the whale’s survival, she said only one in a hundred beached dolphins survives, “so odds are against us.”

She thinks the whale is a Hubbs’ Beaked Whale. It’s 800 pounds and 10 feet, 2 inches long. The staff has nicknamed the whale “BJ,” after the lifeguard who first noticed her, Bob Janice.

Beaked whales look remarkably similar to dolphins, though they have a slight underbite and grow larger and more oafish than their cousins. Both are considered very social animals, affectionate, playful and protective of one another.

None of her caretakers who fought Saturday to save the animal’s life have ever seen a whale like her--not alive at least. Chiarella said experts from across Southern California have stopped by over the last day to offer advice. But none of them has ever, outside of pictures, seen such a creature--much less cared for one.

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Mostly, the whale has slept, floating gently at the bottom of the pool, while volunteers have monitored her breathing and heart rate.

Volunteers offered her fish, but she declined. So they have force-fed her by pumping warm water down her throat. It took six volunteers to hold the mammal down and prevent her from thrashing.

“She desperately needed to be hydrated,” said Michelle Hunter, assistant director of Friends of the Sea Lion. “She fought us when the tube started going in.”

On Friday, rescuers transported her from Malibu to a marine care center in San Pedro. Then she was taken by flatbed truck to the Friends of the Sea Lion in Laguna Beach.

Hunter said she hasn’t figured out why the whale found her way to the beach, and said that nobody can really know.

“There could be neurological problems. She could have just lost track and come up on land.”

Unlike other whales or dolphins, beaked whales stay away from land, preferring to live and feed in deep waters. They are not a rare animal, but they are rarely seen.

The marine center has no figures on the survival rate of beaked whales.

As it stands, animal doctors plan to give the whale more blood tests Sunday morning, and, as researchers and whale watchers continue to stop by for a look, the volunteers will continue to feed her water and wait.

If the whale recovers, she will be returned to the ocean.

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Times staff writer Jack Leonard contributed to this report.

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Hubb’s Beaked Whale

As volunteers care for the sick cetacean, experts offer advice, but they have seen only pictures of the Hubb’s Beaked Whale. It is rarely seen, and very little is known about it. The sick female weighs 800 lbs. and is 10’2” long. Here’s a closer look:

FACTS

Length: 16 1/2 to 17 1/2 feet (newborn 8 1/4 feet)

Weight: 1 to 1 1/2 tons

Where: eastern North Pacific

Source: “Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises”