Gray whale skeleton draws a crowd

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The 236 bones of a young female gray whale, on display on the dock at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center Sept. 1, drew dozens of curious people for a closer look.

The 30-foot-long collection of bones was spread out on a blue tarp on the concrete dock. Each bone was labeled.

“She died in May of 2016 down in Seattle,” said Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) board member Linda Dacon. The bones were set out in the sun to help kill any bacteria that might be on them. The skeleton may eventually be put on permanent display at the center. Dacon was one of several PTMSC staff on hand during the event.

“It appears she had some kind of lung infection” and was thus unable to dive, Dacon said. The whales normally dive down to the bottom in shallow bays to scoop up sand to feed.

The whales use the baleen in their mouths to filter out the sand and then eat the sea life they catch.

“They filter, they don’t crunch,” Dacon said.

The skeleton was put out in the sun at about 11 a.m., and by 1:30 p.m., approximately 70 people had viewed the whale, said Betsy Carlson, citizen science coordinator for the PTMSC. It was to remain on display until 5 p.m.

The skeleton was of a young whale thought to be just 2-4 years old. PTMSC staff called it a “baby,” a baby that was 30 feet long and which would have weighed about 30,000 pounds. Fully grown gray whales can be 50 feet long and weigh 30-40 tons.

Several Frisbee-like growth plates were on display in a plastic bucket. The plates would have eventually fused with the vertebrae had the animal grown to adulthood. A few of the plates had already fused.

When the deceased whale was first found, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the group in charge of marine mammals, asked the PTMSC if it wanted the remains.

“And we said, ‘You betcha,’” Dacon said.

DECOMPOSING

The whale was towed to a beach on Indian Island with the assistance of the Navy, Dacon said. The whale was wrapped in a net and left in the water for three months to decompose, leaving just the bones.

The status of the carcass was inspected by divers and remotely operated vehicles periodically during that time, she said.

The bones were described as “goopy and smelly” as they were removed from the water, Dacon said. The bones were labeled and taken to a greenhouse for additional cleaning.

Initially, the right pectoral fin was kept whole. It was frozen and later scanned at the hospital using a CT scanner. The scan was done so that the correct spacing of the bones in the fin could be determined.

Airing the bones under the sun on Sept. 1 helped to further clean them. The sun’s ultraviolet light would kill any bacteria on them, she said.

“It’s a good opportunity to engage people,” too, Dacon said, referring to the crowd of onlookers.

It isn’t known how the skeleton will be permanently displayed yet. The PTMSC does not have room to show the skeleton at its facility, but may construct a new building one day for that purpose.

When the whale is eventually displayed, a metal rod will be used to connect the bones.

Carlson thinks it would be neat if the whale were to be displayed with its head tilted and its mouth open, scooping up a mix of sand, small crustaceans, tube worms, beer cans and sweatpants.

Carlson explained that a different deceased whale had been found with partially digested sweat pants in its stomach. Plastic grocery bags were also found. Sometimes the whales can expel the garbage, but not always.

“We’re still learning so much about the marine ecosystem,” Carlson said.