Dead Sperm Whale On North Shore To Be Towed Out To Sea

The dead sperm whale that washed up on Nantucket's north shore on Sunday will be towed out to sea before Thanksgiving, town manager Libby Gibson announced Wednesday night.

The carcass of the 50-foot male sperm whale weighs an estimated 104,000 pounds, or 52 tons, and has been the talk of the town since it washed ashore last weekend at the popular 40th Pole beach.

Sperm whales, which were hunted by Nantucketers for their spermaceti oil all over the world during the 19th century, are the largest toothed predator on Earth. The species inhabits deep oceanic waters and is classified as endangered, so it’s a rare occurrence to spot one - alive or dead.

The one that washed up at 40th Pole was the first sperm whale stranding on Nantucket since 2002.

"It certainly doesn't happen every day," Gibson said to the Select Board on Wednesday as she outlined the town's plan to tow the sperm whale carcass offshore.

"Long story short, plans are underway to remove the whale and tow it offshore, which has to be many, many, many miles away outside of this so-called drift zone, so that it doesn't reappear," Gibson said.

While marine mammal officials had hoped to transport the dead whale to a secure location on land to perform a full necropsy that could determine the cause of death, they ultimately determined the carcass was simply too large to be removed from the beach. Late Wednesday evening, however, they received the town's blessing to conduct what is known as a "window necropsy" to gather as much information and samples as possible directly on the beach where the whale came ashore.

"So we won’t be cutting the whole carcass into segments and exposing everything like we did last time," said Pam Murphy, executive director of Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket (MMAN), referring to the necropsy of a minke whale that washed up on the south shore of Nantucket in 2024. "There's not enough time before the tide rises. And it's a big mess. They cut windows and go in that way to retrieve organs, blubber samples, tissue samples, etc., looking for disease and trauma."

After the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues the permit, the window necropsy will be performed by biologists and veterinarians from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), along with New England Aquarium veterinary medical doctor Charles Innis, and members of MMAN.

On Wednesday, a small crowd gathered at 40th Pole to watch as representatives from NOAA and the Massachusetts Environmental Police worked on the sperm whale carcass to remove its lower jaw. This was done, Murphy said, to prevent anyone from removing its valuable ivory teeth to keep as a souvenir or to sell on the black market.

"They (NOAA Office of Law Enforcement) keep it in custody," Murphy said of the jawbone and teeth. "If stuff like that gets onto the black market, it only creates more risk of poaching endangered animals."

Sperm whales are protected under both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to take ivory teeth from their carcasses. The federal laws aim to discourage the commercial trade of ivory and prevent further harm to endangered species that may be targeted for their teeth or tusks. 

Before workers used a chainsaw and large fillet knives to remove and cut the jawbone into pieces, a short memorial ceremony was held on the beach to honor the dead whale. Island resident Annie Backus even brought rose petals to sprinkle on the beach around the carcass.

At some point before Thanksgiving, the town is expected to contract with a tugboat operator to have the dead whale towed far offshore to dispose of the carcass. In her remarks to the Select Board on Wednesday, town manager Libby Gibson referenced a similar effort undertaken by the town of Yarmouth last year, when a massive 65-foot, 100,000-pound fin whale washed up dead on its shores.

"They had to tow that 65 miles off of Chatham to make sure it didn't return, and it didn't return," Gibson said. "But that's the type of effort it's going to take to make sure we don't see it again."

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.

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.