Anglers find 16-ton sea creature dead along NC’s Outer Banks, igniting investigation

A 16-ton dead whale was found by a team of anglers off North Carolina’s Cape Lookout, igniting a search for answers over what killed the majestic sea creature.

It was identified as a young sperm whale, an endangered species that can reach 52 feet in length, weigh up to 45 tons and live 60 years, according to NOAA Fisheries.

The discovery was made in shallow water the weekend of Dec. 16-17 by a team of anglers that included N.C. State University veterinarians Greg Lewbart and Anthony Blikslager, according to the university’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).

The team had set out to find false albacore, but halted that expedition to help mobilize a postmortem and necropsy on the whale, CMAST reported.

It was determined the male had died recently, but clear evidence of trauma was not reported.

“Though the experts could not assess a cause of death on-site, they collected tissue for further histopathology and diagnostic tests,” the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine & Veterinary Hospital reported in a Dec. 18 Facebook post.

Sperm whales live around the world, but are endangered due to entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, marine debris and ocean contamination, NOAA says.

Cape Lookout is the southernmost point of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, in a region known as the Crystal Coast.

The remote island is included in Cape Lookout National Seashore, which is managed by the National Park Service.

National Park Service officials have not reported what became of the whale carcass.

This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 7:34 AM with the headline "Anglers find 16-ton sea creature dead along NC’s Outer Banks, igniting investigation."