SWAMPSCOTT — The same dead whale that washed ashore in Marblehead nearly three weeks ago is back — this time in Swampscott.
Swampscott Animal Control Officer Scott Considine said Tuesday that the whale washed ashore on Phillips Beach, about 200-300 yards from where it had landed on Preston Beach in Marblehead on April 25.
“I don’t think anybody expected this,” Considine said.
The whale, a female young adult humpback weighing about 65,000 pounds, had been towed off Preston Beach and attached to a mooring on April 27. On May 2, the whale was towed to an area about 15 miles east of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, according to Andrea Gomez, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries. Stellwagen Sanctuary is a federally protected marine sanctuary at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
Gomez said in an email that the release location was chosen to minimize the possibility of the carcass coming back to shore, and that NOAA created a “set and drift plan” to make sure that it didn’t.
“The whale did not decompose as quickly as expected, however,” Gomez said.
Gomez said the whale, which had been equipped with a satellite tag, was observed off Marblehead before landing in Swampscott.
Gomez said Swampscott town officials, the Massachusetts Environmental Police, NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency are working to develop another disposal plan for the whale.
Considine, who was attaching a new tracking device to the whale on Tuesday morning, said the whale had “a couple of good-sized bites, and if we could flip her over I’m sure there’s tons of bites under there.”
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
By Paul Leighton | Staff Writer
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