Dead 47-foot-long endangered fin whale washes up in Alaska, attracting

The carcass of the juvenile female whale, measuring almost 47 feet, was found Saturday night along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage.

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An endangered fin whale washed up near a coastal trail in Alaska attracting dozens of curious observers as wildlife biologists investigated the reason behind the marine animal’s death.

The carcass of the juvenile female whale, measuring almost 47 feet, was found Saturday night along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spokesperson Jennifer Angelo told USA TODAY Wednesday. The next day, Sunday, NOAA biologists and stranding network members responded to this endangered fin whale to examine the carcass and collect samples.

The second-largest whale species after blue whales, fin whales are classified as endangered species, according to NOAA. A fully grown whale can reach up to 85 feet long and weigh between 40 and 80 tons. The mammal, that gets its name from the fin on its back, near its tail, is found in oceans across the world. However, their existence is threatened by strikes with vessels, entanglements in fishing gear, underwater noise, and the effects of climate change, NOAA says.

While fin whales are typically found in deep, offshore waters in open seas, away from the coast, primarily in temperate to polar latitudes, as per NOAA, NOAA biologist Barbara Mahoney told USA TODAY recent high tides may have thrust the animal, “a yearling or a juvenile” estimated to be around 1 to 3 years old, further into the Knik Arm, a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska.

NOAA biologists examine the carcass of the juvenile female whale, measuring almost 47 feet, that was found along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage, Alaska.

Angelo said NOAA biologists and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services staff anchored the carcass to the shore Sunday and spent the next three days extracting skin and blubber samples from the whale to determine the cause behind its death. Mahoney told USA TODAY the whale had no external wounds or gashes, so they are “unsure of exactly what happened.” Still, NOAA biologists collected urine and blood samples, heart tissues, baleen samples and whatever they could for examination.

“We collected what we could, where we could,” Mahoney said. “It (was) very hard to get samples. It’s very difficult to tell if you’re cutting into the meat or the muscles, or cutting into bone, because it all feels hard (and) is just so big.”

A NOAA biologist extracts a sample from an endangered fin whale that washed ashore in Anchorage, Alaska.

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People line up to see, touch whale

While biologists work to understand the cause of the animal’s death, hundreds of people, including families and students, trekked across the mud flats in cold, windy conditions to see the animal and touch it. However, no one was allowed to take any part of the whale unless they were an Alaska Native doing it for subsistence or use in handicrafts, Angelo said.

Among the dozens of visitors was Daisy Grandlinard, who brought a group of children to see the whale Monday.

“It was really interesting for the kids to be able to feel it, touch the bottom because it kind of had tracks on it, like a sled almost. And just to see the size of it, that was pretty cool,” Grandlinard told Anchorage Daily News. “We had already studied whales a couple of weeks ago, so it was fun to see one in person and say, ‘Oh, that’s what the baleen looks like in real life,’ and ‘Where is the blow hole?'”

People line up to see the carcass of the juvenile female whale, measuring almost 47 feet, was found along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage, Alaska.

While biologists untied the carcass Tuesday night after the post-mortem was conducted to let nature take its course, Mahoney said the body is still on the shore and it would be a while before it moves given the weather and tides.

“The freezing temperatures, tides, and limited day length has been challenging, and human safety is always a priority during any stranding response,” NOAA said.

To report an injured or stranded whale, contact NOAA Fisheries Alaska Statewide 24-hour Stranding Hotline at (877) 925-7773.

This story was updated to add more information and images.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dead fin whale washes ashore a coastal trail in Anchorage, Alaska

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