Whale calf found dead off NC coast after swallowing balloon

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. — A whale calf died after swallowing a balloon and becoming stranded on a North Carolina beach last month.

Beachgoers at Emerald Isle reported a live Gervais’ beaked whale in shallow water to the North Carolina Marina Mammal Stranding Network on Oct. 30.

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The N.C. Marine Mammal Stranding team went to the beach confirming the beached animal was a 10-feet 9-inch long female calf that had died.

The team removed the dead whale calf from the beach and sent it to the N.C. State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) to be chilled overnight to prepare for a necropsy the following day.

The center said test results showed the whale calf died from a plastic balloon “obstructing the passage of digesta to the rest of the gastrointestinal tract.”

Whale calf found dead off NC coast after swallowing balloon (Courtesy of: NCSU Center for Marine Sciences and Technology)

According to CMAST, beaked whales are deep-diving, large, marine mammals. Officials say sightings of the animal are rare because they’re normally deep in the water.

To report a live or dead stranded marine animal, call one of the following numbers: