Rarely-seen whale dies after washing ashore on Massachusetts beach
The New England Aquarium says the 9.5-foot-long, 800-pound whale washed up on an Ipswich beach around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.
IPSWICH, Mass. (AP) — A rarely-seen pygmy sperm whale has died after washing ashore on a Massachusetts beach.
The New England Aquarium says the 9.5-foot-long, 800-pound whale washed up on an Ipswich beach around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Ipswich Police Department says it died before a rescue attempt could be made.
Sadly, what has been identified by the New England Aquarium as a Pigmy Sperm Whale has washed ashore on the Ipswich…
Posted by Ipswich Police Department, Ipswich Massachusetts on Tuesday, June 12, 2018
The aquarium says pygmy whales are usually found in tropical areas, but they migrate to New England and Canadian waters in the summer and fall.
It has recorded only two or three whales in the region in the past 15 years, with the last one washing to shore in 2009.
The whale’s carcass has been transported to the aquarium’s necropsy facility in Quincy to determine a cause of death.
