Don't Feed Key Deer Garbage

Do you wonder why feeding Key Deer is harmful to them. This is an example of the problems they get into when they get used to handouts from people.

Heee's Baaaack! Dead Sperm Whale Returns

From the Key West Citizen

A new white mound visible from the Seven Mile Bridge is not a wrecked boat or tiny island that suddenly appeared Monday morning. It's the bleached carcass of a 50-foot-long sperm whale that apparently washed back to shore after being towed to sea on Wednesday. The bayside south end of the bridge apparently will be the whale's final resting place, as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials say the rotting carcass is too decomposed and the water too shallow to attempt another move.

"It doesn't look like we can tow it out again," said Blair Mase-Guthrie, NOAA's southeast regional stranding coordinator. "It would be difficult," she said, adding what's left of the whale's body likely would break apart. Officials did not estimate how long it will take the carcass to disintegrate, but they hope the hot sun will expedite the decomposition process.

The whale is already proving to be an unsavory neighbor, as several motorists reported being able to smell the carcass as they drove past the area. The whale, a male weighing between 20 and 22 tons, died July 25 after beaching itself near Spanish Harbor Channel in Big Pine Key the day before.

NOAA towed it 12 miles past the reef line, but the barge could not drag it any farther because of the whale's enormity, Mase-Guthrie said, adding the tow line snapped several times and eventually could not be reattached. How could NOAA possibly think that would be far enough. Maybe they should have called he Navy out for some target practice.

"There were efforts to try and sink it," Mase-Guthrie said. "But from what everyone has told me it is very difficult to sink a whale of this size." NOAA paid about $4,400 to tow the whale. Big Pine Key residents probably think that was money well spent but how would you like your government spending that kind of money to dump a 20 ton rotting carcass on your front door?

Officials said strong winds and Gulf Stream currents apparently pushed it back, and cautioned boaters to beware and avoid the carcass, as it is against the law to tamper with it. Darn, there goes my chance for a set of Sperm Whale jaws.