A fin whale was found within the Pasagshak State Recreation Area close to the Kodiak Island’s road network at the end of last month. It’s not clear how it was killed, but the animal was clearly in unhealthy condition.
Fin whales are the second-largest whale species on the planet after blue whales, and are generally scarce around Kodiak.
Matt Van Daele is the natural resources director of the Sun’aq Tribe in Kodiak. Fin whales can live for up as long as 90 years wild. Van Daele said this one was between 10-14 years old.
“She was extremely thin,” he said. “She was essentially an enormous snake it was extremely sad to witness.”
He added that when they discovered the whale that was alone there were bumps and bruises across her body.
“It’s probable that she could be stranded when she was alive, and then passed away in the night, before anyone could find the body,” he said.
Around 40 people, including volunteers vet staff, and others who are members of The Sun’aq Tribe came to help in the necropsy this week.
Van Daele said whales dying close to town were quite rare on the island, but it’s now is the second extremely unhealthy whale they’ve performed necropsies for this year. It was the Sun’aq Tribe organized a necropsy to the whale called a humpback during September.
There’s not enough information for biologists to make an underlying trend, however these whales have been discovered following an unusually high mortality rate on gray whales within the Pacific Ocean. Van Daele said these two hungry whales in one year does not bode well for the populations in Kodiak Archipelago. Kodiak Archipelago.
“I as a scientist and personally am worried about what we’ll see in the coming years of our whales in the local area in the event that these events become patterns,” the scientist said.
The only thing biologists are able to do is monitor populations and wait to be returned with their lab findings. Van Daele said the fin whale’s remains are still in the ocean for now however, they are planning to put it into the hope that they can save the skeleton to put together and show off in the town.
“Nowhere in Alaska has a skeleton of a fin whale and we’d love to see this become a landmark for the community,” he said. “That’d be quite cool the fin whale we have to be able to stay in Alaska so we can take pleasure in the experience.”
The region is now frozen following several days of cold temperatures, however once the whale is put in its grave, it’ll take several years to degrade to the remains of a bones. Van Daele said while the whale could have suffered tragic end and they’re hoping that the display will be a source of pride for the local community.
