The Whale Museum News Archives

November 7, 2002

Fin whale necropsy completed last night

As we reported yesterday, a fin whale was found dead floating in the Salish Sea on Monday. It was tied to a dock on Stuart Island on Tuesday, and on Wednesday was towed to the site of the necropsy at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs. Personnel of The Whale Museum and experts from around the region participated in the necropsy.

Although a cause of death has not yet been determined, it may have been hit by a ship, as three other fin whales in recent memory have been found dead from ship strikes in the Pacific Northwest (and carried into the Salish Sea on the bow of the ships). Fin whales are not generally found in the Salish Sea.

After the necropsy, the whale was towed to a bay where it will be sunk and its decomposition studied.

The fin whale is towed yesterday (by a larger boat than pictured) to the beach in front of the Friday Harbor Labs. It took nearly a full day for Soundwatch Coordinator Kari Koski and the boat's skipper to tow the whale.

Photo by Kari Koski.

The whale was determined to be a 53-foot, sub-adult male. It's floating with its belly up in this photo.

Photo by Kari Koski.

Two assistants help Curator Albert Shepard as he extracts a portion of the the baleen out of the mouth of the whale. The baleen will be preserved and used for research and education. The man in yellow is standing on the pleats under the whale's mouth. In a living fin whale, the pleats expand as it feeds.

The necropsy had to be performed at low tide; that's why it was done at night.

Photo by Tracie Hornung.

The necropsy was a Friday Harbor community event! For more information, see the San Juan Islander.

For more information on fin whales visit the web site of the American Cetacean Society.