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Malnourished and sick, the juvenile female sperm whale that was found beached on the Nags Head sand just north of Jennette’s Pier on Wednesday, Dec. 27 could not have survived in the wild.
“When marine mammals strand, there’s always something wrong. They don’t come out on land or beach themselves randomly. It’s usually because of some type of illness or injury,” said Amber Hitt, Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (STAR) Manager at the Roanoke Island Aquarium. Hitt is also part to the Aquarium’s marine mammals training team.
Unable to survive in the wild, the whale was euthanized early Wednesday afternoon.
“In order to humanely euthanize an animal of this size, we give it an initial sedative…enough to keep it either comfortable or to start the euthanasia process,” Hitt explained.
The decision to euthanize the whale was made in consultation with Dr. Craig Harms, Director of Marine Health Program at the NCSU Center For Marine Sciences and Technology.
The stranded whale was approximately nine meters (about 30 feet) in length. When born, sperm whales are four meters long and at full size, female sperm whales are 11 to 13 meters, weighing between 14 to 18 tons. Males are 10 to 15 feet longer and weigh more than twice as much as females.
As a deep ocean species, sperm whale strandings are considered rare, although this is the second stranding of a juvenile sperm whale along the North Carolina coast this year. On Dec. 20, a male juvenile sperm whale was reported on the Cape Fear beach.
A necropsy of the whale is planned but Hitt was not sure certain whether that would be later on Dec. 27 or in the near future.
“I am not sure whether or not the necropsy will be done today,” she said, adding that the sampling the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requested may play a role in when the necropsy will occur. The necropsy will include tissue samples and organs which will be sent off to be tested.
After the necropsy is complete, there will be a cooperative effort to move the body.
“Usually with an animal of this size, we have to call in some extra hands from like public works, that has big heavy-duty equipment,” Hitt said. “We might take it over to Park Service property and bury it there or we could bury it on the beach since we’re kind of out of season here.”
In the meantime, people should not enter the water, the aquarium says. Even though the whale is a juvenile, the aquarium says it’s still quite heavy and could roll onto a person.
Widely distributed throughout the oceans of the world, at one time, the sperm whale was one of the most hunted of all whales. In 1986, an international ban on hunting the species went into effect and according to NOAA, the number of whales is recovering worldwide. The latest stock assessment for the North Atlantic by NOAA was done in 2019 and it came up with a best estimate of 4,349 sperm whales.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
