Thursday, 4:30 PM
Scientists on North Shore probe death of sei whale
By Amanda Bergeron, Globe Correspondent
Nearly two dozen scientists and volunteers gathered on a rocky beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea today to conduct a necropsy on the second dead whale to wash ashore in Massachusetts in less than a month.
The team met this morning at Lobster Cove, where the carcass of the 45-foot sei whale floated ashore Monday after it was first spotted outside Boston Harbor last week, said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium.
Biologists took tissue samples from the animal Thursday but were unable to perform additional tests until the creature floated to shore. The sei had fractured front flippers and evidence of trauma on its jaw.
"It's not uncommon for floating whales to be struck by vessels," LaCasse said. "One of the goals of the autopsy is to know if that trauma occurred before or after it died."
Sei whales, an endangered species, are characterized by a corduroy pattern of grooves on their necks. The whales typically stay 60 to 80 miles out at sea, and it is uncommon for the animals to come close to shore, LaCasse said. Scientists are performing an analysis of the way the whale drifted to try to determine if the animal was still alive when it first approached the Boston Harbor.
Last month, a juvenile humpback whale was found dead on a Rockport beach after it was apparently struck and killed by a boat.
