August 24, 2001
Newport Beach, CA – Newport Beach Lifeguard rescue boat ‘Sea Watch’ responded to a dead whale off of the entrance channel to Newport Harbor at 4:35pm Friday afternoon. As they arrived one mile offshore, the sixty-foot dead whale was found being attacked by a number of sharks, two of which were between fifteen to twenty feet in length.
Newport Beach Lifeguards and an Orange County Sheriffs’ Harbor Patrol vessel developed a safe plan to tie off and secure the whale with rope at the tail of the whale. Using seventy-five feet of rope stretched between two lifeguard boats, lifeguards allowed the rope to sink below the surface at the tail of the whale. Slowly the rescue boats moved towards the head of the whale pulling the rope under the tail. A bowline knot was used at one end of the rope and the other end was tossed to the vessel with the knotted end. The line was run through the loop and tightened to the tail. Once secured, the lifeguard vessel began towing the whale carcass offshore at a rate of one to two knots. Had the whale not been secured, it would have landed on the rocks below Cameo Shores in the vicinity of Ladder Rock within an hour.
Lifeguards planned to tow the whale ten to fifteen miles offshore. Agencies south of Newport Beach were advised of the actions Newport Beach was undertaking. The seventy-five foot, half inch towline was to be left with the whale to allow any agency the following day to easily secure the whale and tow it further out to sea again should it come near to their coastline.
Numerous pleasure craft were on scene watching the feeding of the sharks on the carcass. The sharks continued to follow the carcass offshore as the towing continued through the evening and into the night. The carcass and sharks were never closer to the beach than one mile.
Name: John Blauer, Community
Relations Officer Telephone No.: 949-644-3111
Newport Beach Fire Department P.I.O. No.: 644-3110