Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. -- Officials from the Mystic Aquarium have given up their effort to retrieve the body of a pilot whale that stranded and died Tuesday evening at the private Haffenreffer Farm Beach.

The whale was too big to transport back to the aquarium, they said on Wednesday.

The whale remains tied by its tail to a rock. The aquarium team plans to return Thursday to perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death. After that, interns from the aquarium said, they will dig a hole and bury the carcass.

Skip Graf, assistant stranding coordinator for the aquarium, said the whale measured 14 feet, 3 inches in length. The whale was believed to be an adult female. He said there was no sign of external trauma, such as a ship strike.

David Haffenreffer, who lives adjacent to a cove where the whale came ashore, said the animal struggled to get free before succumbing.

This is the second whale to visit Little Compton this week. On Sunday a dead humpback whale washed ashore and is still causing concern. The odoriferous carcass is lodged in the surf zone and is unreachable. Ron Bogle, manager of Briggs Beach, has hired a contractor to bury it, but the body must be on solid ground first.

There's no indication the two whale deaths are more than a coincidence, said Janelle Schuh, stranding coordinator for the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration.

The Rev. Richard DenUyl of the United Congregational Church said rescuers tried to secure the pilot whale with lines, but it got caught on rocks and died around 8:30 p.m.

He said he and his wife routinely rescue seals and turtles for the aquarium, but this was the first pilot whale he had seen wash up.

-- With reports from Donita Naylor, Journal Staff Writer, and the Associated Press

(An earlier version of this report was published at 10:27 a.m. and updated at 4:47 p.m.)

Comments

BackInRI said:

This could be a boost for RI's long-suffering blubber industry...

Link | June 17, 2009 11:35 AM
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oldman said:

BackInRI, I laughed out loud when I saw your comment! It brightened my day.

Link | June 17, 2009 1:36 PM
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