OVER 80,000 POUNDS OF BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE MAY SOON DISAPPEAR...

[Paul Leidenfrost photo/ HN edits]

HN NOTES & MULLINGS ON THE MATTER:

The 65-foot adult fin whale that washed up on Great Island last week is expected to be removed soon, today or in the days to come, according to a Yarmouth Department of Natural Resources source.

HN reported on the deceased whale earlier in the week. CLICK HERE for the earlier report entitled, “WHAT REALLY CAUSED THIS 65 FOOT ADULT FIN WHALE TO DIE?”

“A limited examination”

According to an earlier YDNR media statement, “A limited examination, including biological sampling, was conducted to gather information and better understand the circumstances.” The YDNR was unable to confirm whether or not a full necropsy had been conducted. HN has also reached out to IFAW and it remains uncertain whether or not anyone has, or is planning on, conducting a full necropsy on the 80,000-to-100,000-pound animal. And the opportunity to study what happened to this whale will obviously disappear once it’s disposed of.

According to online sources, including the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, “Whale watching season on Cape Cod begins mid-April and runs through October,” and notes that fin whales, along with humpback and minke whales, are among the species commonly sighted during this period at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a key feeding ground. Which is important because the wind farm failure off Nantucket, involving a turbine blade failure at the Vineyard Wind project, occurred on July 13, 2024. The incident involved a GE Vernova-manufactured blade breaking during post-installation testing, scattering fiberglass and foam debris into the ocean and onto the beaches of Nantucket Sound. There’s a good chance that the above fin whale was in local waters effected by the fiberglass and foam debris field, leading some to question whether this whale ingested fiberglass or harmful materials that slowly caused internal injuries in the following months.

According to online sources, fin whales are the second-largest whale species after blue whales. They can grow up to 90 feet and weigh between 80,000 to 100,000 pounds. They are one of 16 species of “baleen whales,” with plates (or “whalebone”) in their mouths to sieve plankton from the water. They can live up to 100 years and consume up to 1.8 metric tons of food daily. (According to Wikipedia article sources, “Full physical maturity is attained between 25 and 30 years. Fin whales have a maximum life span of at least 94 years of age, although specimens have been found aged at an estimated 135–140 years.”)

The beached whale on Great Island presents a unique opportunity for biologists to learn whether debris from the wind farm failure harmed sea creatures in local waters. Again, there is currently no word on whether or not anyone has, or is planning on, conducting a full necropsy on this particular 80,000-to-100,000-pound animal that likely sieved hundreds of tons of plankton from local waters during the time following the Vinyard Wind blade failure debris field. There’s also no word on whether or not anyone has collected samples of the whale’s baleen plates, along with any other tissues it used to filter local waters for plankton…

HN will provide updates on whether or not a full necropsy has or will be conducted on this whale as soon as new information becomes available…

UPDATE – 5/16/2025: According to online sources, there are several other U.S. federal agencies that perform and oversee full necropsies on marine animals, listed below:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
U.S. Department of Agriculture

There is no word on whether any of the above agencies are aware of the above whale. And aside from IFAW conducting a “limited examination,” it’s still uncertain whether anyone has conducted a full necropsy in this case. Also, HN just received word that the whale may be removed as soon as this afternoon. The plan is to pull it out to sea…

P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Thomas Dolby… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT! HEADPHONES ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATORY!]