by Keith Rittmaster and John Ososky October 28, 2024 Meet the Gulf of Mexico Whale, also known as the Rice’s whale. This is a new species of whale. You’ve not yet seen it in a book. You likely have not seen it on a poster. It was discovered and named in...
Live-stranded Gervais’ beaked whale had balloon in stomach
On October 30, 2023 a 10’ 9” young female Gervais’ beaked whale stranded alive on the beach of Emerald Isle, NC. A necropsy revealed an ingested balloon in the stomach that had blocked the GI tract. There was milk in the stomach, and no prey items. She was still nursing.
Cuvier’s beaked whale (AKA goose-beaked whale) from stranding to skeletal display
On June 19, 2017, a fresh dead adult female Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) carcass came ashore at Fort Macon State Park on Bogue Banks, North Carolina. Five years later after a 2-year burial, bone repairs, cleaning, sealing, and skeletal rearticulation, we are completing the skeletal display of that whale.
Meet bottlenose dolphin “Cutty”
Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are a familiar sight along the beaches and estuarine shores of Carteret County, NC. One of these individuals, “Cutty”, is well-known in our long-term study of local dolphins.
Bonehenge featured by PBS North Carolina
PBS North Carolina introduces Bonehenge Whale CenterAward-winning producer and reporter Frank Graff recently published an article about Bonehenge on the PBS North Carolina website. In his words, "It could be the coolest place you’ve never heard about."
Recovering the bones from a live-stranded neonate blue whale in Mexico
In January, 2022, on a remote beach in Sinaloa, Mexico, artisanal fishers found a live-stranded 31’ neonate blue whale. It died on the beach. Keith Rittmaster of the Bonehenge Whale Center and the NC Maritime Museum was asked to lead a collaborative and diverse team...
Blainville’s beaked whale skeletal display in the Bonehenge Whale Center
Our most recent display installed in the Bonehenge Whale Center is the complete skeleton of an adult male Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) from a specimen that stranded on Ocracoke in February 2015. The steps involved in the bone preparation and...
Bottlenose dolphins tossing jellyfish! But why?
Apparently, bottlenose dolphins enjoy batting jellyfish around. Keith Rittmaster captured some great shots of the action near Shackleford Banks and the News and Observer's Mitchell Willetts wrote an article about it in December 2020.
Bottlenose dolphins, harbor porpoises, and mahi-mahi (dolphinfish) in North Carolina
The interchangeable use of the terms “dolphin” and “porpoise” contributes to confusion regarding the occurrence and taxonomy of two distinct species. Dolphins and porpoises are marine mammals – warm-blooded, have lungs (air-breathing), have hair (visible when very...