Story of a Whale 2000

Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1785) was stranded on the Yumurtalık beach in Adana in March 2000.

After being inspected and having its measurements taken, the whale was pulled to the coast and carried to the truck for transfer to Istanbul.

The whale was brought to the Beykoz-Riva coast in Istanbul and morphological measurements were taken before the autopsy.

After measurements were taken, tissue samples were collected by experts from TUDAV.

The whale was carried to the Beykoz-Riva coast and buried underground.

After 14 months, the skeleton was taken out by volunteers of TUDAV on 19 March 2001.

After taking the sand out of the skeleton, a rough cleaning was done.

Before taking out the vertebrae and large bones, inspections and numbering took place.

After numbering the whole skeleton, the skeleton was taken out entirely.

Joining the skeleton

Working on the skull

Group members reconstructed the whale skeleton after eight months of hardwork.

The skeleton has been on display since 2002: A female juvenile Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1785) stranded to the Yumurtalık beach in Adana on 4 March 2000. Its length was 1025 cm and weighed 3260 kg. It is assumed that she might have died from starvation as she was too light. Normally, juvenile Fin Whales of this length weigh 4.5-5 tons. According to the autopsy, Crassicauda sp. parasites were found near her liver- this infection might have had a role in her death.