Dead Sperm Whale Burned, Defaced By Bay Area Bike Gang
A dead sperm whale that washed up on a California beach last month was burned and defaced by a Bay area bike gang.
A few days later, with the whale still laying on the beach, beach goers were snapping photos of the whale with the inscription “East Bay Rats Motorcycle Club.” NBC Bay Area reported that the tide washed the graffiti off of the whale the following evening. Along with the writing, it was discovered that chunks of the whale’s blubber had been burned.
Marine experts are still trying to figure out how the whale died. According to Citylab, there were no visible signs of a shark attack, disease, or boat injury. The autopsy results are currently pending.
Witnesses to the carcass are disgusted with the actions of the local gang.
Nothing says “I’m classy” like spraying graffiti on a whale carcass. Stranded Sperm Whale, Pacifica, California pic.twitter.com/0Tc5wSUySy
— Bobby Boessenecker (@CoastalPaleo) April 21, 2015
“It’s awful. I think it’s bad enough what happened to the poor whale. Why did they have to go and make it worse?” Savina Hong, a teacher who had brought her kids to check out life on the beach, said.
“The East Bay Rats Motorcycle Club, or whoever did this, stinks more than this whale’s rotting flesh,” Alan Grinberg, a man who photographed the carcass, said.
Um, please don’t spray paint the beached whale in Pacifica. Really. (Photo: Jon Harman) pic.twitter.com/PiURc1ZAjX
— Peter Meredith (@peter_mer) April 21, 2015
The president of the Oakland-based bike club was contacted through email, but he didn’t deny or accept responsibility for the defacement. The club later issued a clever statement on their Facebook page.
“In light of current events, we thought it necessary to issue the following statement: We do not take any responsibility for the alleged whale spray painting incident, which we believe was photoshopped. However, we do take responsibility for beaching that whale, and in fact, all whales. We will discontinue this practice if we are given one million dollars so that we can bring back Lucky Lager. (It’s not like it got f**ked in the blow hole with a strap on or anything.)”
The graffiti was not photo shopped, as there is a close-up video that clearly shows the writing is real.
What do you think about the bike gangs actions against the dead sperm whale? Leave your comments below.
[Photo via Twitter/Bobby Boessenecker]
