Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1979)
These whales beached themselves along the Oregon coast near Florence Saturday night. Since then, a team of scientists — biologists and mammalogists — has Photo* by J»« Bum* dissected and autopsied the whales, beginning preliminary studies on the cause of the eaching The carcasses have been burned and then buried on the site Beached whales puzzle experts The team of scientists who’ve been attempting to find out why 41 sperm whales beached themselves near Florence on the Oregon coast has so far come up empty-handed Early theories that the whales' sense of direction was affected by parasites has not been con firmed by the team, which is headed by Oregon State University Marine Science Center biologist Bruce Mate. He and volunteers from the Northwest Regional Stranding Network and from an American Society of Mammalogists con ference meeting in Corvallis $15.00 per term for 2 cubic foot refrigerator Rent A Refer DON’T BE DISAPPOINTED GET YOURS NOW CALL TODAY Taylor Rental Center 344-4226 removed blood, tissue, jaws and teeth samples from the whales before disposal operations started Tuesday “They will try to determine why the whales beached themselves, but they’ll be very lucky if they’re successful." said Sandy Matheny of the newly formed Whale Information Center. "Very little is known about sperm whales — this is a prime opportunity for scientists to examine them.” Matheny says the center has received calls from scientists across the country, requesting samples from the whale car casses The whale herd, with a col lective weight of about 500 tons, was divided evenly between males and females. Matheny satd Three of the females were pregnant, the scientists found during their autopsies A cooperating group of 11 federal, state and county governmental agencies is work ing on the disposal efforts, headed by the Oregon State Parks Department The U S Forest Service, for which Math eny works, has organized the information center The decision to burn and then bury the whale carcasses was made on the basis of long-range health and safety concerns. Matheny said, because scien tists who had coped with a similar beaching said the whales decompose very slowly and could present a health problem for months if only bur ied m the sand State police Sgt Phil Mohr --. ATTENTION Off-Campus Students Students paying their own EWEB bills — that is, living off-campus where utilities are not included in the rent — must make their own arrangements with EWEB for starting and stopping electric service. It’s simple; do it by phone. Call 484-2411. Remember... 1. You apply to EWEB for service — when you move in. 2. You contact EWEB to stop service — when you move out. 3. You are responsible for paying the bill as long as you occupy the premises. Eugene Water & Electric Board A Municipally-Owned Utility 500 E. 4th Ave. Eugene, Oregon Phone 484 2411 Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. > \ ,-£mu Craft Center CRAFT CENTER WORKSHOPS & MINI COURSES OFFERED IN: Ceramics, Woodworking, Natural Dyeing, Wood Lathe, Stained Glass, Feltmaking, Doweling, Basketry, Quilting, Silkscreen, Spinning, Batik, Crochet. Knitting, Frame Loom Weaving, Jewelry, Matting & Framing, Calligraphy, Drawing, B&W Photography. Color Photography, Bike Repair, Kite Construction, Fly Tying, Fly Casting. Canoeing CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS IN: Batik, Woodworking, Ceramics. Photography REGISTER June 21, noon to 4 pm EMU Forum Room, (Room 93) 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm EMU Craft Center, (Suite 69) continues during craft center hours until each workshop and mini course is either filled or meets for the first time. CRAFT CENTER SUMMER HOURS Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 6:30 pm Friday, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm Closed Saturday and Sunday and the 4th of July Reduced hours after August 10th. Call 686-4361 for information said bulldozers dug several trenches for the burning and burying, but not until all the whales had been opened and used for specimen collection The biologists have tried to save as much as they could," Mohr said State police have closed the first parking lot on the South Jetty Road to public use until the disposal has been completed Mohr said public cooperation, in spite of the in terest the beaching attracted, "has been very good ' One individual. Michael John Watts of Westlake, was arrested by state police Monday and charged with transporting parts of an endangered species " Watts had removed 20 teeth from the whales The scientific team later removed all the jaws and teeth from the car casses before the burning The whales beached them selves on the South Jetty beach, south of Florence, Saturday night Once out of the water, their great weight caused their lungs to slowly collapse Some whales were still alive Tuesday Attempts to shoot or euthan ize the dying mammals were unsuccessful, Matheny said, because "nobody knew how much of the chemical it would take She said shooting wasn ? a good solution because a bullet would have to penetrate more than two feet of blubber to reach the brain pan JEB’S Summer School Special FREE Homemade fries with every good dog or best burger. Jeb’s Good Dogs 1350 Alder (Next to Pegasus Books)
