Balaenoptera physalus (fin whale) - MH-03-478

Abstract

Balaenoptera physalus (fin whale) - MH-03-478 - NUVC 8393 - male - 16.2 m - Pelvic location - University of Georgia, approx. 53-foot (NOAA database gives ~1780 cm = 58.5 feet), sub-adult male washed ashore in a decomposed condition at Sand Hill Beach, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. Although the muscles and organs were fairly well preserved, all of the skin was peeled to a white layer, and the extremities were beginning to come apart. Missing parts included both mandibles, both maxillas and premaxillas, the baleen, the left flipper (the carpals and phalanges), the outermost right phalanges, both tail flukes along with the last two or three caudal vertebrae. The length of the remaining carcass was 51 feet from the end of the nasal cartilage to the end of the remaining tail vertebrae. The remainder of the skeleton was salvaged in 3.5 hours on the same afternoon.