Necropsy reveals more about beached whale at Oak Island

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — The remains of the whale that washed ashore at Oak Island are now gone. The whale was euthanized and then a necropsy performed to figure out what was wrong with the whale.

Crews led by a team of UNCW biologists were hard at work today to figure out why this whale was in such bad shape.

For two days, a crowd gathered where a male sperm whale washed ashore at Oak Island but the mood today was much different compared to yesterday.

“We know it’s a sub-adult male,” UNCW Biologist Ann Pabst said. “We know that it’s very, very thin to the point of emaciation. That means it probably hasn’t been eating for quite awhile. It’s also very far from its home. It should be living way off our continental shelf, which is 100 miles away from here.”

The necropsy also found shallow propeller wounds on the dorsal part of the whale’s head and abnormalities with its eye.

Pabst praised all involved with how it was handled.

“A live, stranded sperm whale is an unusual event, no matter how long you’ve been in the business and it’s a difficult event,” Pabst said. “We’re very fortunate to have really wonderful veterinary colleagues and really wonderful team members and also really wonderful people here in Oak Island who understood that we were trying to do what was very best for the animal.”

If you see a whale or any other type of marine animal wash ashore, the first thing you should do is notify the authorities.

“The very first thing to do is call their local municipalities,” Pabst said. “They can call 911, all of the 911 folks know how to get a hold of us. If they feel more comfortable talking to their local municipalities, calling the local police officers is the very best first step.”

The Town of Oak Island was responsible for removing the whale’s remains. They excavated a large hole about a 100 feet away from where the necropsy was happening to bury the whale.

The work biologists did Friday was part of the gross examination of the whale.

Histopathologists will be taking a closer look at the tissue and cellular level in the coming weeks.