Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale) - SY-Mn-0941

Abstract

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.