Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale)
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
1 - 20 of 21
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-04-224(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-04-224 - NUVC 8394 - female - 13.40 m - Pelvic location - University of Georgia. The fresh carcass of a 44-foot (1340 cm), 6-year-old female named “Beacon” washed ashore at Newcomb Hollow Beach, Wellfleet, MA on the Cape Cod National Seashore but the Park Service would not allow vehicle access. Dave Taylor removed both pelvic bones during the necropsy on 12 December. The cause of death was unknown. The carcass washed off the beach during a storm and was found on Nauset Beach, Orleans on ??. By this time the carcass was deflated. All of the ribs, as well as the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were missing. Two of the vertebrae were found on a beach in Wellfleet. On 5 January 2005, an effort was made to salvage the skull and jaws by hand and with a truck winch in bitter, blowing sleet, but only the jaws could be salvaged. A section at the left rear of the cranium was missing. Around 8 January the carcass washed off again and was eventually found well up into Eastham Harbor where it lodged on a gravel bar and was iced in for the winter. In the spring it washed ashore up against a private pier about 200 yards east of the Orleans rotary. On 11 May the Eastham Natural Resource Officer, Henry Lend and others pulled it into deeper water and anchored it. On 14 May it was towed to a nearby boat ramp where we salvaged the slightly damaged skull, both flippers, and the caudal vertebrae. The skull measures about 11.5 feet long and 6.5 feet wide. Skeleton was given to Northeastern University.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MN-07-468(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MN-07-468 - male - 9.25 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-05604(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-05604 - male - 11.00 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-10-188-Mn(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-10-188-Mn - male - 9.14 m - Pelvic location - Greenfield Community College. A floating 26.9-foot (820 cm) male Humpback was spotted by the noon trip of one of the Captain John whale watch boats out of Plymouth on the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank. In the afternoon of September 11, it washed up on a near-shore sandbar in Chatham and was towed to the adjacent Lighthouse Beach. The necropsy and salvage were conducted the following day and took about 4.5 hours. The entire skeleton was salvaged except for the right scapula which was accidently left in place. The cervical and first thoracic vertebrae were loose from the heat of decomposition, so the neural arches of 4 cervicals (# 3-6) were broken off, and several of the vertebral discs were shattered from the carcass rolling in the surf. Donated to Brian Adams, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA (Sept. 2011).
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - metatarsal(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - metatarsal - female - length unknown - Pelvic location - Victoria Museum
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-13-158-Mn(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-13-158-Mn - male - 8.5 m - Pelvic location - Bridgewater State University. a 27.9-foot (849 cm) male was found floating in the middle of Buzzard’s Bay and towed the next day by Michael Moore of WHOI to a beach on the southwest side of Nashon Island, Gosnold, Dukes Co., MA and tied to a rock. A simple necropsy was done, and tissue samples were positive for a Morbillivirus. On October 11th, Dave Taylor, C.T. from IFAW, Brent Powers from DFW, and I salvaged the complete skeleton in about 3.5 hours. All the bones were dragged off the beach and up a 10-foot slope to two DFW pickup trucks just off the beach. None of the bones were broken, suggesting that this whale was not struck, even though some bruising had been noted by Michael. The only bones not found were one of the two stylohyoids and the mesohyoid (3 unfused bones). One wrack of baleen was retrieved from the surf. The skeleton was given to Bridgewater State College for Dan Den Danto of Whales and Nails, Bar Harbor, ME to articulate. The estimated cost is $30,000 to $40,000.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - NEAQ-16-031-Mn(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - NEAQ-16-031-Mn - female - 13.70 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-03-046(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-03-046 - female - 12.20 m - Pelvic location - Museum of Osteology, Oklahoma City, OK. 39.7-foot (1210 cm) adult female washed ashore on the south end of South Beach, Chatham, MA. The entire skeleton was salvaged in 6 hours on 5 April. All bones were saved, and the ears were left in place. This was an un-named whale first seen in 2002. None of the vertebral discs are fused. The baleen was cut into sections for educational use, but some sections were kept with the skeleton. The cleaned skeleton was given to the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City, OK where its articulated skeleton is the centerpiece of the osteology museum. In an episode of the TV series “Dirty Jobs”, the host Mike Rowe, power washed her already cleaned skull.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-01-975(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-01-975 - female - 11.37 m - Pelvic location - UMaine Orino. – 37.3 foot (1137 cm), two-year-old female named “Pitfall” washed ashore bloated on Duxbury Beach, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., MA. Complete skeleton salvaged on 2 October. Skull and right mandible badly broken by ship strike. Outside of carcass looked fresh with live barnacles and whale lice, but vertebrae were floating loose on inside from intense internal heat. Missing hyoids. The baleen was left with the skeleton and decomposed into the individual plates which were given to Dana Hartley to be distributed for educational use. Given to Becky Woodward of the University of Maine, Orono, Engineering Department.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - VMSM-20011038(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - VMSM-20011038 - female - 8.79 m - Pelvic location - Whale Research Center
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MCZ-63341(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MCZ-63341 - male - 8.53 m - Pelvic location - Harvard University. 28 foot (336 inches), yearling male washed ashore at the granite breakwater, Pigeon Cove Harbor, Rockport, Essex Co., MA. Decomposed carcass not reported to NEA until 16 November. Nearly complete but damaged skeleton, missing right mandible, both radius & ulna, and outer portion of one flipper, and with rostrum broken off and greatly fragmented ,cranium mostly intact, many vertebral discs and inter-vertebral processes broken, and 1 neural arch broken, salvaged on 17 November, and given to the MCZ, Harvard Univ.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - SY-Mn-0941(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - SY-Mn-0941 - male - 12.50 m - Pelvic location - New York State Museum. The carcass of a 41-foot adult male washed ashore on Briggs Beach, Little Compton, Newport Co., RI. It was buried in the intertidal zone, without being necropsied, on 20 June but was quickly uncovered by the surf. On 25 June, I assisted staff of the Mystic Aquarium in conducting an examination of the carcass and salvaging the skeleton. The salvage took about 6.5 hours. The entire skeleton was saved, including both pelvics and both sets of ear bones, but there was some damage to the skull caused by the excavator. About half of the baleen was saved. There was no bruising under the blubber, but the stomach was full of krill, so the whale probably drowned in fishing gear The atlas, axis, and cervical #3 are all fused together, and one transverse process of the axis is unconnected, having a ball-and-socket like attachment to the vertebra. The anterior end of one mandible is swollen and pitted from a bone infection. The skeleton was given to the New York State Museum, Albany, NY.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-07-181(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - CCSN-07-181 - female - 9.85 m - Pelvic location - Seacoast Science Center. The fresh carcass of a 32.3-foot (985 cm), 2-year-old female named “Tofu” was found floating about 4 miles off Race Point, Provincetown, Barnstable County, MA on the mourning of 24 June. It was towed to a marina in Dennis and trucked to the Bourne landfill where it was necropsied on 26 June. The carcass weighed about 10 tons. It was found to have a large bruised area from the ventral side of the head of its right humerus and upper chest, down to its upper belly, caused by a vessel strike. No bones were broken. It took 5.5 hours to conduct the necropsy and to remove the entire skeleton. The whole right rack of baleen and the anterior 2/3 of the left rack were removed and preserved in one piece, each. The posterior 1/3 of the left rack was taken by the Cape Cod Stranding Network to be used for education. The skeleton was donated to the Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-10-188-Mn2(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-10-188-Mn2 - male - 9.14 m - Pelvic location - International Fund for Animal Welfare
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - UF-25146(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - UF-25146 - male - 9.40 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-03-602(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-03-602 - MCZ 64648 - male - 11.00 m - Pelvic location - Harvard University. 36-foot (~1097 cm, ~44000 lb) male found floating 1.5 miles off Pimaquid Point, ME. The carcass was towed to Pimaquid Beach on 4 October where the entire skeleton was salvaged that day. Ear bones went to Darlene Keaton. The skeleton was donated to the MCZ, Harvard Univ.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - SY-Mn-0951(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - SY-Mn-0951 - female - 8.20 m - Pelvic location - SUNY, Syracuse. The carcass of a 25 foot (8.2 m) juvenile female was found floating by a fish trap off Little Compton, Newport Co., RI. It was anchored in place until it was towed ashore at Seapowet Point, Tiverton on 25 August. The carcass had flattened out and one scapula fell out as it was being beached. The skeleton was salvaged by Michael Moore, Dave Taylor, et al. in about 2.5 hours. All the skin was missing so the whale could not be identified. The entire skeleton, including both pelvics and both sets of ear bones, was salvaged but one stylohyoid was lost, most of the phalanges were missing because of scavengers, and some damage was caused to the skull when it was pulled ashore. The skull is 7 feet 6 inches long and 4 feet 8 inches wide. The neural arch of one vertebra and several vertebral discs were broken and all the baleen was missing. The cause of death is unknown. Given to the Roosevelt Wild Life Collection, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Syracuse, NY.
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-07-468(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-07-468 - male - 9.25 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - NBWM-1933-42(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - NBWM-1933-42 - male - 10.70 m - Pelvic location - unknown
-
Still ImageMegaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-08-100(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-05-20)Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - MH-08-100 - male - 9.00 m - Pelvic location - SUNY, Syracuse. The carcass of a 27.5-foot (~330 inches) female was found floating off Race Point, Provincetown, Barnstable County, MA (42 01.3N 070 18.7W). It briefly beached at Herring Cove, Provincetown on 18 September and was reported by a tuna spotter floating halfway between Race Point and the Gurnet (Duxbury) on 21 September. On 23 September it washed ashore at Manomet Avenue, Plymouth. Poor beach access and a storm prevented a necropsy and salvage. The carcass quickly began to come apart in the surf. On 1 October, the remaining partial skeleton was salvaged, which included the following: Skull including both sets of ear bones (but missing right maxilla and both premaxillae), 1 mandible, both flippers with 1 scapula, entire tail including all 20 caudal vertebrae, the next to last lumbar (#9) and thoracic #10, both pelvic bones, all 8 chevrons (pairs #1, 2 & 8 unfused - # 1 right & # 8 right missing), and 20 ribs. The neck of one large rib was broken and healed. Given to the Roosevelt Wild Life Collection, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Syracuse, NY.