Dead sperm whale – weight of a fully loaded tractor-trailer – has washed ashore in Nantucket and officials aren’t sure how to move it
Dead whale ‘too big’ and ‘awkward’ to move from beach
- A 50-foot, 52-ton sperm whale washed ashore on Nantucket this week, marking the island's first stranding of its species in over two decades.
- The whale is considered too large and heavy to be removed from the beach, making traditional disposal methods unfeasible.
- Nantucket officials and the Marine Mammal Alliance are coordinating plans to tow the whale offshore, ideally before Thanksgiving.
- Despite population recovery since the 1980s whaling moratorium, sperm whales remain an endangered species.
- The public is permitted to view the whale from a distance of 300 feet, with experts scheduled to conduct an on-site examination.