BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — Scientists took tissue samples Thursday from a dead whale on a Bremerton beach, providing information to help researchers across the country.
National Marine Fisheries spokesman Brian Gorman says the tissue is valuable because the whale died just the day before when it washed ashore on Dyes Inlet.
Gorman says the 32-foot-long gray whale was a male, 2-to-5 years old. It had about half the blubber it should have carried. Samples taken in the necropsy should help determine the cause of death.
Among the samples taken is a nerve bundle from the nose, going to the Smithsonian Institution.
Gorman says the carcass will likely be towed away. An Indian tribe wants to save the skeleton for education.
