A 25-ton dead, rotting whale that washed up on a Martha’s Vineyard beach could be dangerous for swimmers as it decays, ?experts warn.
“It’s quite prudent for the town to limit swimming in that area,” New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse told the Herald yesterday.
Edgartown officials told beach visitors to swim at their own risk after the whale was discovered on South Beach early yesterday morning. A spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the beach, said it was ?unclear whether the carcass belonged to a fin whale or a humpback whale that had been fed on by sharks.
The spokesman said federal officials had no information about disposing of the carcass.
Edgartown officials could not be reached for comment.
The aquarium is not ?involved in whale removal but has overseen necropsies of beached whales, including ones in Duxbury and Rye, N.H., earlier this year, LaCasse ?said. The “blubberbag” on the Edgartown beach had probably been dead for several weeks.
“You probably have a minimum of 50,000 pounds of rotting animal flesh,” LaCasse said, adding it was unclear what kind of bacteria could be released into the area as the whale continues to decompose.
