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The 42-foot-long whale was discovered stranded at around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29 in Potter Pond in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, according to Mystic Aquarium spokeswoman Meagan Seacor.
Soon after the whale's discovery by a local resident, the aquarium's Animal Rescue Team and officials from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) responded to the scene to try and help the stranded animal.
After arriving, veterinarians soon discovered that the whale was emaciated and in a compromised state of health. After an evaluation by the aquarium's veterinary team though, the animal did not appear to have any obvious wounds, and no immediate cause of stranding could be determined.
After consulting with officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other whale experts, the decision was made to wait for high tide and hope that the whale would refloat and navigate its way out of the pond. Sadly though, the whale did not refloat once the tide came in, Seacor said.
Because of the whale's low likelihood of survival and the poor state it was in, veterinarians then decided to put the animal down to end its suffering. The whale died at around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday with aquarium and Rhode Island DEM personnel by its side.
The Animal Rescue Team is now working with NOAA to conduct a necropsy and find out what caused the whale's stranding, according to Seacor.
"These cases are always heartbreaking, seeing such a beautiful animal in a compromised state," said Animal Rescue Program Manager Sarah Callan, who continued, "As sad as the outcome is here, I feel some relief that this animal is now at peace. We’ll collect a lot of data today and not only learn more about what happened with this specific whale, but also different threats that this species faces as a whole."
The necropsy will be conducted by a team of 20 people on Friday, March 1, and be examined both externally and internally. After the necropsy, the whale's remains will then be taken to a different predetermined location to be buried, Seacor said.
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