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)