Sperm whale of impressive size. A 15 m long cetacean weighing an estimated 52 tons ran aground on Sunday 16 November on Nantucket, an island in Massachusetts (United States), and caused problems for the authorities. This was the first stranding of this species on the island in more than twenty years, when a 45-ton sperm whale washed ashore in 2002, the Nantucket Current reported.
At that time, the animal was towed for hours to the shipyard to be placed in a pickup truck, then transported to a rubbish dump for an autopsy. But this time, scientists say it is impossible to reproduce this operation with this much more impressive animal.
Although the 50-foot whale was scheduled to be transferred to a laboratory for a full necropsy to determine the cause of death, the Nantucket Marine Mammal Alliance, a local organization dedicated to monitoring, protecting and helping marine mammals, said the whale was “too large, bulky and heavy to be removed from shore.”
His lower jaw was removed to prevent his teeth from being stolen
In fact, Nantucket City Manager Libby Gibson told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the plan now is to pull the whale out to sea before Thanksgiving (next November 27), far enough offshore to prevent it from drifting towards the shore.
A similar initiative was undertaken by the town of Yarmouth last year, when a fin whale measuring 20m and weighing 45 tonnes washed ashore on its shores. “They had to tow the ship 105 km off the coast of Chatham to make sure it didn’t come back, and it didn’t come back again,” he said. “Efforts like this are necessary to ensure we never see it again.” »
A brief memorial service was held on the beach to honor the missing whale, before authorities removed its lower jaw on Wednesday, November 19, to prevent the theft of its valuable ivory teeth.
