Aug 20, 2013 3:20 PM

Gallery: Unusual Whale Stranding Gives Scientists Rare Opportunity

01
dead-whale
*Photo: Alex Washburn/WIRED*
02
necropsy-2
*The first steps include removing much of the whale's blubber. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

03
cutting
*Slicing into the blubber. Below, onlookers watch the necropsy while a sea gull sneaks in for a bite of discarded flesh.* [![](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/08/IMG_2973.jpg "IMG_2973")](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/08/IMG_2973.jpg) (*Photos: Nadia Drake/WIRED*)
04
removing
*The team used large hooks to separate the blubber from the whale, a process that involved some intense physical activity. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

05
stomach
*Collecting fluid from the stomach. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*
06
bags
*The team gets ready to bag bits of kidney. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

07
kidney
*Collecting part of the kidney, which looks like a pebbled structure. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*
08
struggles
*At one point, the excavator nearly tipped over while trying to drag the whale farther up the beach. Rolling the carcass worked much better. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

09
eye
*Scientists collected both eyes from the whale. Here's the right one. Below, a seagull stands near the spot where the whale's left eye used to be.* [![](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/08/IMG_2949.jpg "IMG_2949")](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2013/08/IMG_2949.jpg) (*Photos: Nadia Drake/WIRED*)
10
esophagus
*Yes, you could fit inside a whale's mouth. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

11
last-light
*Scientists get ready to roll the whale toward its grave.*
12
rolling-the-whale
*After rolling the whale, scientists needed the excavator's help teasing the intestines from the carcass. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

13
a-last-look
*After rolling it up the beach, and before burying the whale, researchers climbed into the animal's thorax, looking for any clues they might have missed. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*
14
burial
*The whale is pushed into its sandy grave. (Photo: Nadia Drake/WIRED)*

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