Rare whale found dead in Everglades National Park waters

A rare whale was found dead in the waters of Florida’s Everglades National Park.

In social media posts, park officials said the Bryde’s (pronounced BROO-dus) whale carcass was recovered Wednesday. The young adult male was 38 feet (12 meters) long and weighed nearly 30 tons (25 metric tons).

Federal Marine Mammal Stranding Network experts performed a necropsy, but it wasn’t clear what caused the whale’s death.

Bryde’s whales are the only year-round resident baleen whale in the Gulf of Mexico. They are named for Norwegian whaler Johan Bryde, who helped build the first whaling stations in South Africa in the early 1900s.

Meanwhile, the Naples Daily News reports eight dolphins were found dead on Florida’s southwest coast during the government shutdown, when the federal scientists who would have responded were furloughed. Forty-two other dolphins were found dead in the same waters in late November.

#Smithsonian interested in Bryde’s whale skeleton. Tissue samples will be tested to assess health and hopefully cause of death. May be weeks/months before we know more, but we’ll share what we learn. Science in action in our #NationalParks! pic.twitter.com/90To3sm7vc — Everglades Natl Park (@EvergladesNPS) February 2, 2019

Author: Associated Press

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