Beached Whale in Malibu Leads to Government Paralysis

No one knows what to do as the forty foot fin whale rots on the beach

When a dead 40-foot fin whale washed ashore in Malibu earlier this week it was still a beautiful creature: dark gray on top, a rich cream below that glistened in the surf and sun.

By Thursday … not so much.

After several days of being pounded by the surf, devoured by gulls, poked at by gawkers and probed during a necropsy, magnificence had given way to a decomposing mess of protruding bones and ghastly strips of blubber — and a full-fledged state of government paralysis.