JANNELLE STRAWSBURG
Staff Writer
Wednesday morning washed in quite the surprise for residents off Old Malibu Road. Following Tuesday night’s storm, neighbors gazed in disbelief at the 35-foot gray whale that now lay dead in their backyard. However, it wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon, one week after the giant came to rest, that the City of Malibu finalized its decision to take action in its burial.
“The whale was the county’s jurisdiction,” said Jennifer Voccola, Environmental Programs Analyst for the city. “However in the interest of the public and our city’s residents, we felt like we should take responsibility of the issue.”
Dr. Daniel Hillman, retired orthopedic surgeon, who lives nearby on Old Malibu Road, said he couldn’t believe his eyes that morning.
“I’ve lived here for 50 years and I’ve never seen anything like this on this beach,” Hillman said.
The situation became even more surreal when it became apparent that no one wanted to claim responsibility for disposing of the 20-ton mammal. The carcass had settled itself immediately at the foot of a county public access point at 24604 Old Malibu Road, yet also remained partially on private residential property.
On Saturday morning, four days after the mammal was found dead, no one had solved the problem of the now rotting heap of blubber.
“We’re not trained for the removal of something like this,” said Ernesto Gonzalez, County Grounds Maintenance employee. “I think the county is trying to get like animal control or somebody, because nobody wants to deal with it, everybody is just passing it on.”
As the remains became softer and the smell more putrid, residents began to wonder if they would ever be rid of their gigantic visitor.
“This is a county public access point so they should be doing something about it,” Hillman said. “It’s a real shame to see such a magnificent animal rotting away like that, at least throw some lime on it so it doesn’t smell.”
Richard Calvin, maintenance manager for the city, hired a private contractor, Burns Pacific Construction, to assist in the burial of the whale. A CAT 350 excavator made its way onto the beach from the road to dig an eight-foot-deep grave. J.R. Hatcher, operator of the excavator, couldn’t help but laugh about the situation.
“I’ve buried a lot of things on the job, sheep, cattle, giraffes, elephants, but never a whale. This one takes the cake,” he said.
In a little less than an hour, Hatcher managed to drag the 20-ton whale into its freshly dug grave, cover the grave enough to hide evidence that a large mammal lay underneath and make the trek back up the beach to the road.
“I just felt for the backbone,” said Hatcher. “If you can find the backbone and hook it, a rotten carcass will just slide right in.”
“The city handled it extremely well,” said a satisfied Hillman. “Mr. Richard Calvin came out, he got the equipment; they proceeded very quickly, and did an excellent job of burying a fellow mammal in a dignified fashion.”
Thanks to the decisiveness of the city, and Hatcher’s skilled technique with the excavator, residents were once more able to enjoy a pleasant stroll along the water’s edge.
04-13-2006