Blue Whale

I don't know if you have heard, but a HUGE blue whale washed up on the beach close to Half Moon Bay. It has been all over the news here and I even saw it on AOL news this morning. I guess this is the first blue whale in 30 years to wash up on a beach in our area.

Kristin, Ryan, and I drove down the coast to Bean Hollow to check out the whale. The whale was pregnant before it was killed by a ship. Seems pretty hard for a big animal in a gigantic ocean to collide with a boat, but what do I know? Above are RR and I pointing out the whale from the top of the cliff.
We walked down to the beach and there were a ton of other people taking pictures and checking out the scene. There weren't as many people as the media made it sound, but definitely more people were in Bean Hollow than there have been in a while. Bean Hollow is pretty, but not a tourist destination because it is about 17 miles from town.
I don't really understand how this happened, but we could also see the whale fetus on the beach. Apparently all of the gas built up in the dead whale and kind of exploded and pushed the baby out. The scientists said that the baby was only 6 months old and they usually are born after 12 months.
I was surprised how close we could get to the whale's body. I thought it was going to smell horrible, and yes, it did smell pretty bad, but it didn't smell like rotting fish. It smelled like old smoked salmon. I do have to admit, I am happy we went today after it was recently washed up, instead of next week because I would imagine the smell is going to get WORSE. This is a picture of the whale's mouth and a little bit of the baleen left on the tip of its lips (do whales have lips!?)
This is the eye. The more K and I look at this picture the more it creeps us out.
Here are RR and I up close and personal with the whale. I must mention that the sand looked wet, but actually it was kind of greasy from whale blubber. Gross, huh?! The car smelled on the way home from our shoes and I think we have decided to throw them away.

K posted more pics on Facebook if you are curious. Seeing the whale was probably one of the most interesting things I have seen in a while in HMB. Worth the drive down the coast, and it was an absolutely gorgeous fall afternoon. And, you will be happy to know that we made it home just in time to cheer on the Giants.