Beached Sperm Whale Will Not Be Moved From North Shore

The deceased sperm whale that washed up along Nantucket's north shore on Sunday will not be removed from the beach due to its weight, and a full necropsy is likely off the table, marine mammal officials said on Monday.

The 50-foot male sperm whale is estimated to weigh 104,000, or 52 tons, the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket stated following an inspection of the carcass and meetings with NOAA and IFAW.

"Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket has been consulting with numerous experts at NOAA and IFAW to discuss next steps and what is possible," MMAN's Pam Murphy said in a statement. "Trevor Barrett of Barrett Enterprises, who skillfully removed the much smaller minke whale for us last year, was also on the conference call. The conclusion was that this whale was far too big, awkward, and heavy to remove from the beach. No amount of equipment could pull it off. We had hoped to be able to perform a full necropsy off-site, but that has been determined to be impossible. Given the tides and size, we will do a thorough examination in place to the extent that is safe, taking as many samples as possible. We expect to be joined by experts from off-island."

The MMAN is urging the public to stay at least 300 feet away from the carcass and view it with binoculars. They are also reminding the community that it is illegal to take any parts of the carcass.

The removal of the carcass from the beach "will be determined after we confer with the town of Nantucket," she added.

It is the first sperm whale to wash ashore on Nantucket since June 2002, when a deceased sperm whale was discovered at The Galls near Great Point. It was towed by a tugboat to New Bedford, and its skeleton now hangs in the New Bedford Whaling Museum. On Nantucket, the more well-known sperm whale stranding occurred four years earlier on New Year's Day in 1998, when a 46-foot male sperm whale washed ashore and died at Low Beach. Its skeleton now hangs in the Nantucket Historical Association's Whaling Museum on Broad Street.