Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Large Baleen Whale Strands Dead on Mustang Island Port Aransas

April 22, 2010 Update - The NOAA fisheries lab has identified the 43 foot baleen whale stranding of February 08, 2010 as a Balaenoptera physalus using a DNA sample taken from the carcass. Fin whales can reach 75 feet in length. This is the first of this species to be reported on the Texas coast, according to the past 30 years of TMMSN records.

February 08, 2010 - A 43 foot baleen whale washed up on Mustang Island early on February 08. A large whale carcass had been reported some days before 11 miles offshore from Cameron, Louisiana by the United States Coast Guard and the whale was expected to make landfall on Bolivar Peninsula later that week. Instead, it is believed the prevailing wind and current took the carcass down to Port Aransas where TMMSN regional coordinator Tony Amos supervised the recovery effort with the help of regional TMMSN volunteers.

The whale was determined to be female and an effort was made to perform a necropsy and determine cause of death. However, due to the advanced state of decomposition, no cause of death could be determined. A sample was taken for genetic analysis which will be used to confirm the species.