Dead 50-Foot Whale Found in Boston Harbor

A rare and unwelcome sight in the Boston Harbor: A dead finback whale was discovered floating in the harbor yesterday, and authorities are waiting for it to wash up on shore so they can examine the body and then dispose of it. The whale, more than 50 feet long, may have died after some sort of trauma—a lot of blood surrounded it in the water, and it has marks on its body—but it may also have died of disease or other causes and experienced the trauma after death, a New England Aquarium spokesperson tells the Boston Globe.

Adds a Coast Guard officer, "It’s not rare to see a whale in the Boston Harbor, but it’s rare to see a dead whale in the Boston Harbor. The majority of these cases happen out to sea." (More whale stories.)