Whale and Dolphin Conservation recently announced that a dead minke whale found on a Plymouth, Massachusetts beach was pregnant.
WDC’s Marine Animal Rescue and Response team first received reports of a minke whale swimming near the Hingham ferry docks and then in Hull Bay over the weekend.
A few days later, the team received a report of a dead minke whale on a beach along Hull, Massachusetts.
Upon arrival, the team determined that the 25-foot/7.6-meter-long adult female minke whale was in poor body condition, but had no obvious external signs of a cause of death. With assistance from local officials, the whale was extracted and transported to the necropsy and burial site.
The initial necropsy turned into two when the team discovered the minke whale was an estimated 4-6 months pregnant with a baby boy. The fetus was extracted, and samples were taken to understand more about his development.
According to Brad Musquantumahsq Lopes, an Aquinnah Wampanoag citizen and educator:
“Mothers are sacred, bringing life into this world. And a mother and her child are no longer with us. There’s a vacuum in my heart. As Wampanoag people, we lose not only a cousin, but a part of our future.”
This is WDC’s third deceased minke whale in three months. An Unusual Mortality Event (UME) for minke whales was declared in 2017. There are two main causes of this UME, human interactions (including vessel strikes and accidental entanglement in fishing gear) and infectious disease.
Lauren Brandkamp, Stranding Coordinator for WDC, said:
“We are seeing slightly elevated numbers of minke whale stranding because we’ve seen a shift in the ecosystem as our waters warm, prey is moving into more coastal waters where whales are more at risk of human threats. Whales, like minke whales, are coming in closer to shore, which puts them at a higher risk for things like vessel strike and accidental entanglement. Warmer waters also increase the risk of infectious disease in marine mammals.”
