‘Most popular whale in California’ dies after being hit by ship and washes up on beach
Fran the whale was the most popular humpback in California.
For years, the 17-year-old whale gained the love of tourists and whale watchers in the state. She became the most photographed and most beloved, according to the Bay Area News Group.
On Sunday, Aug. 28, her nearly 50-foot body was found washed up on California’s Manhattan Beach, SF Gate reported.
Fran died after she was struck by a ship, according to the online database Happy Whale. Her skull was detached from her spine, SF Gate reported.
“Ship strikes are tragic,” Ted Cheeseman, founder of Happy Whale, told SF Gate. “This is the most beautiful animal in the world, being killed literally as road kill.”
Fran was born in 2005 and was the daughter of Big Fin. She was named by Ferd Begholz after his late wife, according to Happy Whale.
The whale sometimes spent the winters in Guerrero, Mexico, and was well known in Monterey Bay.
“I’ve seen her several times in Monterey Bay,” Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a research associate at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, told SF Gate. “She’s very well-known. She’s literally the best-known humpback in California.”
Experts told the Bay Area News Group that Fran’s calf was by her side when she died. The calf was born in the past year, according to Happy Whale, and researchers don’t know what will happen to it.
Schulman-Janiger told SF Gate whales usually are still nursing at that age, so it’s possible the calf won’t survive.
Dozens of whales have been killed in ship strikes. Between 2007 and 2020, nearly 50 whales were killed by ships in California, according to Bay Area News Group.
Humpback whales were listed as an endangered species in 1973, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The species was previously hunted and was reduced to less than 10% of its original population size.
“Current threats to the humpback include ship strikes, entanglement from fishing gear and illegal hunting,” experts said.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 9:35 AM with the headline "‘Most popular whale in California’ dies after being hit by ship and washes up on beach."