| Summary: | Balaenoptera physalus (fin whale) - IFAW-09-018-Bp - male - 12.21 m - Pelvic location - College of Environmental Science and Forestry. A live 40-foot (1221 cm), sub-adult male stranded alive in snow and ice on Dyer Prince Beach just north of Rock Harbor, Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA and died the same day. A necropsy was conducted on 9 February and the entire skeleton was salvaged. The skull is 9 feet 4 inches long and 4 feet 3 inches wide. The kidneys were heavily infested with the very large kidney worms that are often found in juvenile Fin Whales and are thought by some to be a cause of death. Both sets of ear bones went to Darlene Keton of WHOI. The vertebral column was cut down its entire length as part of a WHOI biomechanics study. The cut was made horizontally through the middle of the centrum of each vertebra. The cut was cleanly made, and all the skeletal pieces were saved. Most of one rack of baleen and part of the second was cleaned and dried. The Cape Cod Stranding Network (CCSN) is now run by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Given to the Roosevelt Wild Life Collection, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Syracuse, NY.
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