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Whale found emaciated, stranded in Rhode Island dies
The fin whale was found Thursday in Potter Pond in South Kingston.
A stranded fin whale that was found emaciated in South Kingston, R.I., last week has died, according to officials.
The whale, which was approximately 42 feet long and 25,000 pounds, was spotted Thursday morning in Potter Pond by a local resident, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The whale was found by the Mystic Aquarium’s Animal Rescue team and responding veterinarians to be “emaciated and in a compromised state.”
“After a thorough evaluation by Mystic Aquarium’s veterinary team, the whale did not seem to have any apparent or obvious wounds or signs of immediate cause of stranding,” the department said in a statement. “After consulting with NOAA and other network partners with expertise in large whales, it was decided to wait for high tide in hopes that the animal would refloat and navigate out of the area. Unfortunately, the whale did not refloat.”
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The department said that given the whale’s poor condition and low likelihood of survival, the decision was made to use medical intervention to alleviate the animal’s suffering.
It died around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday night.
On Friday, the department said the Mystic Aquarium would be working with NOAA and others to conduct a necropsy on the whale and to learn more about why it stranded.
“These cases are always heartbreaking, seeing such a beautiful animal in a compromised state,” Sarah Callan, Animal Rescue Program Manager, said in a statement. “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 … and not only learn more about what happened with this specific whale, but also different threats that this species faces as a whole.”
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