| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
50 ft. Sperm Whale Found Dead Frenchman Bay, Maine
Written by Dick Broom
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
BAR HARBOR — An adult male sperm whale found floating in Frenchman Bay near Schoodic Point on Tuesday has probably been dead for several weeks, according to Mindy Viechnicki, assistant stranding coordinator for Allied Whale at College of the Atlantic (COA).
Rosemarie Seton/Allied Whale courtesy photo
An endangered Sperm Whale. NOAA
She said the whale, which is about 50 feet long, was spotted by a fisherman, who alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. An Allied Whale marine mammal rescue and recovery team towed the whale to a mooring in Frenchman Bay off the COA pier later in the day.
Ms. Viechnicki said Allied Whale would perform a necropsy (animal autopsy) in hopes of determining the cause of death.
“You definitely get less information the more decomposed it is,” she said.
Plans for the necropsy, such as where and when it will be performed, were still being worked out Wednesday morning.
At an event at COA on Tuesday evening, president Darron Collins said the school was looking at the possibility of burying the bones at Beech Hill Farm to allow organisms in the soil to clean them naturally.
Sperm whales are considered an endangered species
Fair Use: Educational
