Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - IFAW-13-158-Mn

Abstract

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.