The State of Oregon could have responded much better with staff, volunteers, or signs to warn or educate visitors about human health concerns in touching the whale or that it was illegal to remove whale parts. The choice of the first place to dispose of the whale was also poor, since part of it was exposed the day after it was buried. It also seemed that there was not a well-coordinated response among State Parks, State Police, and the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

I discuss these issues in my “Letter to Gov. Kulongoski about Improving the State of Oregon’s Response to Beached Whales Based on the State’s Response to the Gray Whale Beached on 27 May 2007 Near Seal Rocks “at http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/whale.htm [must use all lower case letters].