Carcass largely decomposed and difficult to identify.
Observation: Me and my family found this unusual creature on the beach. It is quite long in length with hair/fur on it. The bones are quite big but we were unable to see a head. As you can see in the picture it has been there quite a while and is slowly decomposing. Has anyone seen a creature like this before?
Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services Consult: DVM, Kathy Burek-Huntington writes, "I'm having a hard time with getting an idea from this photo. More close up pictures of the different parts might be helpful. For example, are you sure what you are seeing is fur? Could you take a close photo of the neck bones and skin? Are there hind legs present? What you could do is send me a small piece of skin, muscle and blubber and we can try to ID the species and sex through genetics."
Bering Strait Marine Advisory Program Consult: Gay Sheffield writes, "This is a re-sight of an already documented stranding from 2016. This bowhead whale carcass was sampled from the Nome and the results of NMFS genetics testing confirmed the ID. Information regarding this old whale was provided to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the line attached during 2016 was the result of a lost whale not an entanglement with fish gear."
LEO says: The stranding was documented in the 2016 report by Gay Sheffield, Brandon Ahmasuk and Vera Metcalf entitled, "Bering Strait - Marine Mammal Coastal Carcass Surveys."
