May 13, 2003
Minke whale beached on Bass Rocks
By Amber Plante, Gloucester Daily Times Staff Writer
A lone minke whale washed up dead at Bass Rocks yesterday morning. Marine biologists have yet to determine the exact cause of death.
Researchers from the Whale Center of New England, located in Gloucester, will conduct a necropsy (animal autopsy) today. But superficial examinations conducted by researchers have identified linear scarring along the jaw, flukes and left flipper.
"There are suspicious scars that initially indicate fishing line, but we'll have to look during the necropsy," said Kate Sardi, a researcher from the Whale Center.
The female minke whale, measuring approximately 25 feet in length, appeared to have been healthy, said Mason Weinrich, the executive director and chief scientist at the Whale Center. "It had what looks like a good blubber layer and a stocky figure," said Weinrich.
This isn't the first time an otherwise healthy minke whale was found dead in local waters.
"(The whale) has similar scarring to the same species of whale that was found in Gloucester Harbor," said Sardi, referring to last October, when a juvenile minke whale was found between Eastern Point and Ten Pound Island. The cause of death in that case was entanglement in lobster gear.
The initial call that reported the beached whale yesterday morning was anonymous. The animal drew a crowd of curious passers-by.
"Daddy, how did the whale get hurt?" asked Joseph Verga, 4, with mom, Tamara, and dad, Kevin, who watched the incoming tide lapping the whale's body.
"It probably followed some fish in and got too close to shore," said Mr. Verga, of East Main Street.
"It's sad," said Dave Wheaton, Atlantic Road resident. "It's kind-of a mixed blessing; you get to see a whale up close, but it's dead."
The few onlookers commented on the lack of public attention, one stating "this used to be a big event."
Minke whales, according to a fact sheet from the Whale Center, are the smallest and most common species of baleen whales, and are indigenous to all oceans of the world except the polar caps. They frequent northern waters to feed on small local fish like cod and herring and are commonly seen off the coast of Gloucester.
The baleen, about 130 rows of keratin-based, 6-inch "filters" lining the upper jaw, sieve out excess water from the whale's mouth after the huge gulps it takes when feeding. The minke whale is not an endangered species, with numbers near a million worldwide.
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