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Rare whale death raises questions on Navy

HONOLULU — Federal authorities plan to conduct a necropsy of a rare species of whale that was found stranded in shallow waters off Molokai this week.

The Coast Guard flew the carcass of the 2,000-pound, 15-foot-long Cuvier’s beaked whale to Oahu where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will try to determine what caused the whale to beach itself.

Beaked whales have been at the center of a dispute over the Navy’s use of midfrequency sonar ever since several washed ashore with bleeding around their brains and ears during naval exercises in the Bahamas in 2000.

Marine mammal researchers say beaked whales appear to be most susceptible to the impact of sonar but haven’t pinpointed exactly why.

The Navy is holding a monthlong series of international naval drills, the Rim of the Pacific exercises, in Hawaii waters through Thursday. Sailors were scheduled to practice using sonar during the last stage of the exercises.

Wende Goo, a NOAA spokeswoman, said the agency was conducting the necropsy as a standard response to stranded whale deaths, not out of particular interest in the beaked whale species.

It’s unclear how long the analysis will take and when researchers may know what caused the whale to become stranded.

Drew Murphy, visiting from Aina Haina on Oahu, spotted the whale while he was kayaking about 4.5 miles east of Kaunakakai at about 7 a.m. Monday.

He said the animal was about 100 yards offshore on a mudflat.

“It was pointing into shore, struggling somewhat, trying to get ashore,” Murphy told Honolulu television station KHON by phone from Molokai.

He called NOAA’s Marine Mammal Response Team to alert officials.

“Myself and some other local fellows tried to see if we could turn the animal so it could swim out off the beach instead of onto the beach,” Murphy said. “As the tide rose, the animal did free himself and we blockaded it to prevent it from coming toward the beach which worked partially.”

The beaked whale swam offshore, but it later beached itself a second time, about a mile east, Murphy said.