Dead minke whale washes up on Ipswich's Crane Beach, Mass.

Mar 17, 2012

GateHouse News Service

Ipswich — The carcass of a dead minke (pronounced minky) whale, with wounds consistent with being caught up in fishing gear, washed up Friday on Crane Beach, according to a statement from the New England Aquarium in Boston.

This dead minke whale, possibly wounded by entanglement with fishing gear, washed up on Crane Beach.

Minke whales are a protected species found throughout the north Atlantic, but their population is considered stable, according to the aquarium.

Whale carcass washes up on Ipswich beach: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Staff from the Trustees of Reservations, which owns and manages Crane Beach, notified the New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Team of the unexpected find.

The body of the 23.5-foot, dark grey whale is in fairly good condition and shows evidence of possible entanglement in marine gear and some unusual wounds. Friday afternoon, aquarium rescue biologists secured the animal, did a full external exam, and took samples from scarred and dead tissue. They also have been working with the Trustees staff to make arrangements for a necropsy on Saturday.

Aquarium staff estimated that the whale had probably been dead three to four days. The whale had significant impression lacerations on its body and ulcerations in its mouth. A full necropsy may help to determine a specific cause of death. Like unattended human deaths, first impressions are not always accurate. However, marine gear entanglement and vessel strikes are the two leading human-caused sources of death for whales in the U.S.

Minke whales are very familiar to New England whale watchers. They are among the three species seen most commonly, along with humpback and finback whales. Minkes are relatively a smaller whale, usually between 20 and 30 feet long. They are a streamlined whale with an angular head and grooving on the underside of its chest and belly. Minkes are the smallest of the baleen whales found in North American waters.

Minkes in New England commonly feed on a variety of schooling fish including herring, mackerel, sand lance, cod and capelin. They will also eat squid and large zooplankton, such as copepods.

Minke whales are usually solitary and are normally found offshore, particularly in the winter, but they do frequent shallower coastal waters throughout the year.

Minke whales are a protected species under federal law. Their population is considered stable and are found throughout the north Atlantic.

Norway and Iceland still conduct annual hunts for minke whales.

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