Well-known whale washes up dead on Cape Cod shore
Sightings of the whale known as "Ladders" date back to 1985, officials said.
When a Fin whale measuring over 50 feet was found floating dead in Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown a week ago Sunday, environmental officials saw the distinctive scars on its side and knew the animal was a regular in the area.Nicknamed “Ladders” because of the years-old vertical scars just above his dorsal fin, this particular Finback was first documented in a sighting from 1985, according to a Facebook post from the Center for Coastal Studies.
https://www.facebook.com/coastalstudies/posts/10156766470957436?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCdOG2aMvhtteOBNt9elMFa8pXgyFQ4bvKyEguEJs1WAgLqtOLHE4_AOW7u9vIlAmmwmmN_xRY7uSruKVKDiTKa6BsVc4Myp4WNVxpCYVjbXnpuNb8-Zyd3Aixu1wDFz32tCSAEsWnlNTKiwHQRwOmKNkWcDBE4IVy2mE_JA5I-g7TCoYwRqe8Ebkl5eIbB8ZAi0Q3K9js99N7oVBoZtzeGHqnMDNBwgvRZv5sJBA&__tn__=-R
“It’s an animal that’s a lot more than a little familiar,” John Conlon, a first mate and field guide for Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch, told the Cape Cod Times. “I started into the business in 1983. I’ve been looking at this particular whale since 1984.”
What Ladders, measuring 54 feet, died of is being determined. Officials from the center visited Ladders’s carcass when he was still floating belly up near Cape Cod Bay and couldn’t find evidence of recent injuries. However, sharks had already begun to feast on the remains, according to the post.
Ladders’s body washed up near Wood End Light on Tuesday, the Times reported. The International Fund for Animal Welfare was notified soon afterward by the center.
A team comprised of officials from both went to examine the carcass on Thursday and Friday to conduct a necropsy, according to the Times.
The site is most easily accessed by boat, and a harbormaster brought the group out there. The team took samples from Ladders’s body — his left dorsal fin was found fractured and part of the work will include figuring out if this happened before or after he died, Kristy Volker of IFAW told the Times. It could take a few months before the results come in.
Ladders is one of 600 Fin whales the center has documented since 1979. The species is on an endangered species list from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Provincetown police said on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/Provincetownpolice/posts/1924347934320838
Finbacks are the second largest living animal and can grow to be up to 70 feet long and weigh 70 tons, Provincetown police said. That doesn’t mean they’re slow — the species can clock 35 miles an hour, according to police, which is how they got the nickname “the greyhound of the sea.” They can also hold their breath for up to 50 minutes.
