An endangered humpback whale carcass has been spotted for the second time in a month on one of North Carolina’s barrier islands.
However, in this example the parts are saved for permanent display.
The latest finds included a 31-foot female spotted in the North Core Banks within Cape Lookout National Seashore on December 28, according to a January 10 news release.
The cause of death was not disclosed, but an autopsy was performed and samples were taken, officials said.
In an unusual move, Cape Lookout National Seashore has been granted permission to display some humpback whales to the public, park officials said.
“A team from the North Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network assisted the park in collecting one of the whale’s forefingers and a 4-foot-long baleen segment from the whale’s mouth,” the park reported.
The section will be “processed and eventually used for display at the Harkers Island Visitor Center.”
Photos shared by the park on Facebook show that the flippers were longer than the ones the park’s biologists sent for inspection. Flipper measured “about 13 feet” and 311 pounds, officials said.
At Cape Hatteras National Seashore, just north of Cape Lookout, a 30-foot humpback whale was spotted stranded on Hatteras Island on December 5th. An autopsy was also performed on the whale, but no cause of death was reported.
Humpback whales are all endangered in U.S. waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. Experts say the most common causes of death are entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with boats.
Humpback whales can grow to 40 tons and 60 feet and can live up to 90 years, experts say.
Because large whales take a long time to decompose, the National Park Service typically buries them when researchers are finished collecting samples, reports the McClatchy News.
