‘An honor and such a blessing’: People come together to mourn and learn from beached whale in Oregon

Siletz tribe harvests beached humpback whale at Oregon coast in rare cultural practice

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians harvested parts of a humpback whale that beached in Yachats, the first whale salvage for the tribe in generations.

‘An honor and such a blessing’: People come together to mourn and learn from beached whale in Oregon

Editor’s note: This story contains photos and a video depicting the necropsy and disassembly of a deceased whale, which some people might find disturbing.When a humpback whale beached itself on the Oregon Coast earlier this month, thousands of people followed along through the attempt to save it — and mourned the animal when the rescue effort ultimately failed. But as the whale was euthanized, and in the days that followed, its death also brough…