{"id":647154,"date":"2026-05-16T18:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T18:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647154\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T18:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T18:14:17","slug":"skeleton-of-rare-blue-whale-that-washed-ashore-in-2015-finally-going-on-display-in-newport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647154\/","title":{"rendered":"Skeleton of rare blue whale that washed ashore in 2015 finally going on display in Newport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This story contains photos that might be disturbing to some readers.<\/p>\n

More than a decade ago, the body of a 70-foot blue whale washed ashore near Gold Beach, Oregon.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for a gray whale to turn up on Oregon\u2019s beaches. But a blue whale is different. They live primarily in the deep ocean and when they die, their bodies tend to sink.<\/p>\n

So, when this 100-ton blue whale appeared near Gold Beach in 2015, leaders at Oregon State University\u2019s Marine Mammal Institute took it as an opportunity to turn loss into learning.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing Frank Hadfield of Dinosaur Valley Studios, left, and Lisa Ballance of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute examining the skeleton of a blue whale. The whale washed ashore in 2015. Oregonians will be able to watch the 5,500-pound skeleton come to life via webcams at beav.es\/bones. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Ellie Lafferty\/Oregon State Univerisity<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to stop people dead in their tracks,\u201d said Lisa Ballance, the director of the Marine Mammal Institute. She attributes her career, in part, to seeing a blue whale skeleton in a museum when she was young.<\/p>\n

After 10 years of work, it\u2019s being installed at OSU\u2019s Hatfield Marine Science Institute for students and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of their thoughts are going to leave their mind and they\u2019re just going to be stunned,\u201d Ballance said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be inspired and they\u2019re going to feel in awe of what\u2019s in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The skeleton will be one of only a handful of blue whale skeletons available for public viewing in North America, and the only one between Vancouver, British Columbia, and San Francisco Bay Area. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

OPB’s “First Look” is your guide to Northwest news and culture, delivered to your inbox every weekday and Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing Jason Van Kleef, left and, Kynan Perry of Dinosaur Valley Studios cleaning pieces of a blue whale skeleton. The whale washed ashore in 2015 and will be displayed in Newport, Ore.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

Cleaning giant bones<\/p>\n

But processing a whale for display is no easy task. Step one was to strip the carcass of flesh. It had to be cut up, bundled into huge nets<\/a> and submerged in Yaquina Bay. After three years, marine invertebrates and seawater had done their work and cleaned the bones.<\/p>\n

But shortly after they were brought up in 2019<\/a>, the pandemic hit and the former director of the MMI, Bruce Mate, retired. Restoration efforts effectively ground to a halt. For four years, the bones lay all but forgotten at a Yaquina Bay warehouse.<\/p>\n

Ballance said the school was struggling with how to clean so many bones, where to clean them, and how to move such big bones. In the end, she decided to bring in a private company. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not do this project justice,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if we were to do it at all, I wanted to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A provided graphic showing the scale of Oregon State University’s blue whale skeleton. The whale washed ashore in 2015 and will be displayed in Newport, Ore.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

Dinosaur Valley Studios<\/a>, a Canadian company that specializes in reconstructing large skeletons, recharged preservation efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge of this project has been the sheer size of the bones,\u201d said Frank Hadfield, the director of Dinosaur Valley Studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the reward is seeing the largest creature that ever lived come together as a skeleton.\u201d<\/p>\n

A five-person team has spent three years cleaning, restoring and preserving the bones, the largest being an 18-foot lower jaw bone. The team then created a steel frame to display the whale in natural motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to convey a living animal in a dynamic environment, rather than a static display,\u201d Hadfield said. \u201cWe hope visitors are inspired by the wonder of the natural world through this piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team removed an estimated 175 pounds of whale oil from the bones. They also used 3D printing technology to repair portions of the skeleton damaged either by injury or by surf action following its death.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing rib bones from a blue whale skeleton. The whale washed ashore in 2015 and will be displayed in Newport, Ore. Bones were collected under authority of the NOAA Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program Permit No. 18786 and transferred to OSU’s Permit No. 23092 for curation and education.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

A provided graphic showing details of Oregon State University’s blue whale skeleton. The whale washed ashore in 2015 and will be displayed in Newport, Ore.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

\"Researchers<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

Researchers are harvesting the whale’s skeleton because blue whales are rare in Oregon<\/p>\n

Calum Stevenson \/ Oregon Parks and Recreation Department<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing bones from a 78-foot blue whale that washed ashore in November 2015 near Gold Beach, Ore. The skeleton will be displayed in Newport.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing Frank Hadfield of Dinosaur Valley Studios, left, and Lisa Ballance of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute examining the skeleton of a blue whale. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Ellie Lafferty\/Oregon State Univerisity<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing Jason Van Kleef, left and, Kynan Perry of Dinosaur Valley Studios cleaning pieces of a blue whale skeleton. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Oregon State University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing the spine, ribs and other pieces of a blue whale skeleton. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Ellie Lafferty\/Oregon State Univerisity<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing Frank Hadfield of Dinosaur Valley Studios, left, and Lisa Ballance of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute examining the skeleton of a blue whale. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Michelle Klampe \/ Oregon State Univerisity<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing pieces of the skeleton from a blue whale. The whale washed ashore in 2015 and will be displayed in Newport, Ore.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Michelle Klampe \/ Oregon State University<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing a blue whale skeleton being prepared for display at Hatfield Marine Science Center. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Dinosaur Valley Studios<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing a blue whale skeleton being prepared for display at Hatfield Marine Science Center. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Dinosaur Valley Studios<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

An undated provided photo showing a blue whale skeleton being prepared for display at Hatfield Marine Science Center. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of Dinosaur Valley Studios<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

Blue whale bones ready for assembly at OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore., May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Showing image 1 of 14<\/p>\n

Cradle for a 70-foot blue whale skeleton outside the Hatfield Marine Science Institute, Newport, Ore., May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

\uf054<\/p>\n

A necropsy found the whale appeared underweight and had not been eating well. It also showed blunt force injuries consistent with a possible ship strike, and domoic acid, a naturally occurring biotoxin caused by algal blooms.<\/p>\n

The skeleton display is not just for looks. Research will continue. The bones will hang in a cradle so they can be brought down and inspected.<\/p>\n

Hadfield said there are scars on the bones that could be investigated. It appears the whale might have had scoliosis, a curbed spine and two fused ribs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a number of really curious things that probably will get more research here,\u201d Hadfield said.<\/p>\n

Ballance agreed, \u201cThis whale skeleton represents another remarkable educational opportunity for our students and researchers as well as visitors to the Oregon Coast.<\/p>\n

\"Cradle<\/p>\n

Cradle for a 70-foot blue whale skeleton outside the Hatfield Marine Science Institute, Newport, Ore., May 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

\u201cResearchers at the Marine Mammal Institute are working every day to advance knowledge of these extraordinary animals, the environments they live in and the threats they face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oregonians will be able to watch the 5,500-pound skeleton come to life via webcams at beav.es\/bones<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: This story contains photos that might be disturbing to some readers. More than a decade ago, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[279185,79,201],"class_list":["post-647154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-oregon-coast-science-animals-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}