BREAKING NEWS: Dead whale calf reported off Kokole Point

By The Garden Island

Published: Monday, February 9, 2009 11:42 AM HST

KEKAHA — A tour boat captain reported a dead whale calf in the vicinity of Kokole Point in Kekaha at about 8:45 a.m. today.

At around 11 a.m., water safety officers from the Kekaha lifeguard tower had confirmed the sighting. They spotted the reported whale slowly drifting west some 300 yards off the point.

Tom Clements, the public information officer at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana, said Kokole Point is at the border of the base and Kekaha. He, too, confirmed late this morning that something is in the water offshore and said PMRF will remain on standby as NOAA checks into it.

Lifeguards said it is unlikely the whale will wash ashore at Kekaha Point, but there is a slight chance it could at Major's Bay.

There have been no reported links to the fish kill last week on Ni‘ihau. The cause of that incidenct remains under investigation.

More information to follow.

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/02/09/breaking_news/doc49908df6079d9678439508.txt