Two whales washed up on the shores of East Hampton yesterday, including a 2-year-old pygmy sperm whale. Newsday (subscription only) reports that a 59-foot female finback whale was found dead in Napeague, while the 5-foot male juvenile sperm whale was found alive in Amagansett, but had to be euthanized shortly afterwards. "It showed signs of illness," the Riverhead Foundation's rescue program coordinator, Kim Durham, told Patch of the baby sperm whale, noting that it had skin lesions, and at 150 pounds, was in overall poor shape. "It was a very sad afternoon."
Durham said, "It is rare to have a pygmy sperm whale beached, whether it was dead or alive." She noted that it was likely a coincidence that the two whales turned up within a mile of each other, noting that the current carried the female finback whale onto the beach. Durham said that whale had been dead for around two weeks. "The same could be said for the pygmy, if it was weakened, it's going to go where the current is going to take it."
The decision to euthanize the sperm whale was made in part because there is no place where it could be rehabilitated nearby, as the Riverhead Foundation only has one tank, which is currently being used to help a harbor porpoise. "We can't put two species together in one tank and also we can't admit a new species into a tank with another that is already being rehabilitated." A necropsy for the sperm whale will take place tomorrow, while East Hampton police say they are making arrangements to move the female finback whale off the beach.
Last month a 60-foot finback whale washed up in Breezy Point. An autopsy showed that it died of kidney failure due to a parasite, but Durham told Newsday that yesterday's 59-foot whale did not appear to have the same ailment.
