The whale skeleton
The Sea Captain's House - Laden
Have you ever had a close encounter with a giant of the deep? In the barn, you can. See the skeleton of a 15m long sperm whale that stranded on Rømø.
The stench of decay. That was the first thing that struck those who witnessed the stranding, death and decaying of 16 sperm whales in 1996. The stench of rot filled the air and lingered in the clothes of curious spectators for a long time after. Fortunately, today, the smell is long gone when you meet the young whale bull in the barn.
1.
In the belly of the whale
Walk around and inside the world's largest predator: the sperm whale. Imagine how much bigger the whale must have been with its nose, body and tail. The front part of the sperm whale's enormous square head is called the ‘nose’, and it can weigh several tonnes on its own.
2.
Poor sight, but great at navigation
Sperm whales spend most of their lives in the deep sea, in total darkness, hunting large squids. They do not have particularly good eyesight or sense of smell. To navigate, communicate, and find food, they use echolocation, creating sound waves inside their nose. If their echolocation is disrupted along the way, they risk losing their bearings, entering shallow waters and becoming stranded.
3.
Denmark's largest stranding of large whales
In 1996, 16 sperm whales stranded on Rømø; the year after another 13. Why? Despite several investigations, no clear answer was found. The most qualified guess is a navigation error. During their annual migration to the equator, they may mistakenly have taken the route between Norway and Scotland and thus strayed into the shallow waters of the North Sea, where the risk of stranding was high.
Photographs from the stranding in 1996
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
Photo by Jørgen Kølle
5.
What do you do with 400 tonnes of whale?
The task of removing a whole pod of stranded whales included towing the carcasses, flensing and skeletonizing, sampling, securing scientific data, disposal of the many tons of biological remains, and deciding where the cleaned skeletons should ultimately go. Heavy machinery had to be employed, not to mention all the people who put an enormous effort into the task - all to the dominant stench of rotting whale meat, covered in blood, sand and sperm oil from whales’ noses.
The skeletonized raw parts were left in a tidal channel for six months, where microorganisms and the sea took care of thorough cleansing. Then, conservators prepared the skeleton for the exhibition.
