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Year In Review: Still A Mystery About Jamestown's Humpback Whale

The humpback whale washed up on the rocks at Beavertail last summer, but the test results are not yet ready.

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JAMESTOWN, RI—One of the biggest mysteries of 2017 involves the humpback whale that washed up on the rocks at Beavertail in June. The whale was spotted floating (and apparently dead) in the water for a couple of days before it washed up on the rocks at Beavertail State Park. Ultimately, the state Department of Environmental Management, Mystic Aquarium and the Town moved the carcass to a North Kingstown beach where scientists performed post-mortem tests (called a necropsy) and where the whale was buried.

For Jamestown, the whale's appearance (and departure) marked an unusual event. On June 17, dozens (including TV news camera crews) came to see it. As Town Administrator Andy Nota said at the time, "This was clearly a unique situation involving a humpback whale, most likely traveling closer to the RI coastline due to changes in our local waters." He hoped the Town would not see another whale wash up on the rocks anytime soon.

But humpback whales have been dying in worrisome numbers along the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina, according to federal officials. According to the statistics, between Jan. 1, 2016 and Nov. 30 of this year, 58 humpback whales were found (either floating dead offshore or dead from a beach stranding). Five died in Rhode Island.

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The Jamestown whale's death is still being investigated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which is in charge of so-called "unusual mortality events." Allison Ferreira, with NOAA's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, said Thursday the test results are still pending.

"I was able to connect with Mendy Garron, our stranding coordinator, today, and she informed me that we do not have the results back yet on the Jamestown whale," she said. "These things do take time, and labs can get backlogged with samples."

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So far, results are in for the necropsies performed on about 20 of the whales, according to NOAA. Half had suffered some type of injury from a collision with a propeller or a vessel, but the cause of death for the others remains a mystery.

"I wish we could provide more information at this time," Ferreira said. The humpback whale was the second aquatic mammal to land on a Rhode Island beach last June. On June 6, a Riso's Dolphin carcass was discovered on the beach in Barrington. Initially, people thought it was a whale, but the Mystic Aquarium experts identified it as a Riso's, according to Ray Sousa, Barrington's harbor master. The Town public works department disposed of it on June 7.
Janelle Schuh, the aquarium's stranding coordinator, said it wasn't possible to determine the reason the dolphin died. It was too badly decomposed to allow for post-mortem tests, she said. Although she prefers to "stay away from the word 'unusual' "when discussing sea life, she did say it was only the eighth Riso's reported in Rhode Island and Connecticut waters since the mid-1970s.
Then in the fall, two humpback whales washed up on Block Island. One was found on September 5, and the second was reported on Oct. 3. Also, a minke whale washed up on Scarborough Beach on September 6.

The humpback whales are not the only whales that have been dying. The right whales are endangered. Some 17 of them died in 2017. Most of those deaths have been associated with injuries (colliding with vessels) or with becoming entangled in fishing gear.

Patch File Photo: Humpback whale carcass in Jamestown / Margo Sullivan

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