Thursday, December 13, 2012

Malibu residents move dead whale -- government fails

Doesn't the following story sound typical?

Malibu residents move whale carcass, ignoring red tape - latimes.com: "For days, a whale was left decaying -- and smelling -- on a Malibu beach as government officials debated what to do. On Saturday night, the rotting carcass of a 40-foot fin whale was quietly pulled out to sea by a private tugboat hired by Malibu residents who were tired of its stench. After days of official bickering over whose responsibility it was to deal with the landlocked leviathan, a local homeowners association stepped in, according to Fire Inspector Brian Riley. Members hired a private company to bring a tugboat to remove what was left of the 40,000-pound whale, which had washed ashore last Monday, already dead. The whale had suffered a wound to the back, perhaps the result of a collision with a boat. The tug towed the carcass some 20 miles offshore -- far enough that the remains are not expected to reappear, Riley said. . . . Previously, state and local officials said they were not sure they could accomplish the feat before higher tides arrived this weekend. . . ."

Obviously they (government officials) were right--they couldn't get the job done. I wonder who broke the news to them?

 

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