Mad River Beach, mouth of Mad River

This is what a dead whale looks like after 30 days of sitting in the sun and rain. the animal washed ashore on January 20th, 2009.These photos were taken February 25. There was very little left of the 60 foot mammal. It was virtually un-identifiable. Two fin whales have washed up on local beaches in the last four years. Their cause of death was unknown.

The first fin whale that washed ashore has been buried in the sand. Apparently, micro-organisms will clean the flesh, they will dig up the skeleton and place it in our local natural history museum.