SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Highway 101 traffic backed up for miles as motorists slowed and even stopped to look at the carcass of a 70-foot blue whale floating offshore.
Authorities have been tracking the southbound whale carcass floating through the Santa Barbara Channel for days. It was expected to eventually wash up on a Ventura beach.
On Thursday, motorists on Highway 101 got to look at the carcass as it drifted by. That evening, traffic was backed up for several miles.
Should it hit the beach, a necropsy will be conducted, said Easter Moorman of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Several agencies statewide have expressed interest in taking part in the examination, she said.
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