The remains of a 78-foot blue whale that have sat on the seafloor off the coast of Newport for more than three years were hauled ashore this week so the skeleton can eventually be displayed, officials said Friday.

When the massive animal washed up on a southern Oregon beach in 2015, it was only the second time a blue whale was beached in the state since Lewis and Clark reached the coast in 1805, according to Bruce Mate, emeritus director of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute. Mate saw it as an opportunity.

Given the rarity of the specimen, its skeleton was worth saving, and researchers from the university hoped to display it at the new Marine Studies Building in Newport. But preparing a carcass of that size is not easy. Researchers examined and dismantled the skeleton, removing about 58 tons of flesh in the process. They bundled the bones into nets weighed down with railroad wheels and dropped them into the waters of Yaquina Bay to let nature’s scavengers do the rest of the work.

When it came time to pull the skeleton from the water, the university started a funding campaign to help pay for the expensive and dangerous operation. Late last year, an anonymous donor chipped in $125,000 to fully fund the effort.

“It is just a wonderful gift from someone whose generosity will benefit generations of Oregonians who they likely will never meet,” Mate said in a statement. “A blue whale skeleton is a marvel to behold – and now many, many people will have that opportunity because of this gift.”

The skeleton — which encompasses 365 individual bones, including the skull, which weighs 6,500 pounds, and the jaw bones, which are 18 feet long — were pulled up by a team of technical divers from the Oregon Coast Aquarium and taken to a nearby warehouse.

Now that the bones are back on dry land, there is still a lot of work to be done before the skeleton can be assembled and displayed. The bones still hold oil and fat, Mate said, which could ruin the specimen if allowed to remain.

“We’ve got a bunch of work to do to get everything cleaned up,” he said. “It’s critical to get the oil out of the bones to help preserve the skeleton and keep it from becoming rancid.”

The university is seeking volunteers in Lincoln County who are willing to help in the final stages of the cleaning process or anyone who might be willing to donate large vats or troughs to hold the bones. Interested individuals were advised to contact Mate at bruce.mate@oregonstate.edu.

If all goes according to plan, Mate hopes the skeleton will be ready to display in about a year.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

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