
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 22, 1990                   TAG: 9006220112
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

TESTING SCHEDULED ON DEAD WHALES

Two juvenile humpback whales washed ashore on city beaches within two days, and authorities hoped blood and tissue tests will determine whether the same illness killed the eight-ton mammals.

A whale found Wednesday on the beach in Sandbridge was put to death after a veterinarian determined it was too ill to survive. Another humpback was already dead when it was found Tuesday at Chesapeake Beach.

The whale found Wednesday was breathing and barely opening its left eye at times. Vacationers, police and beachcombers volunteered buckets of water, wet shirts and towels to help keep the animal's soft, gray skin wet and protected from the sun.

The whale, about 27 feet long, was almost identical in age and size to the other humpback, which was towed to Lynnhaven Inlet and buried Tuesday.

by CNB