Whale in “poor condition” found stranded in Rhode Island pond

A whale in “poor condition” was found stranded in a pond in Rhode Island on Thursday, officials said. 

Rescuers with Mystic Aquarium and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) responded Thursday morning to Potter Pond in South Kingstown, R.I. for reports of a stranded whale, Meagan Seacor, a spokesperson for Mystic Aquarium, told Boston.com.

The animal, a 42-foot fin whale, was “emaciated and in a compromised state,” Seacor said. 

“After evaluation by our veterinary team and consultation with NOAA and other network partners with large whale expertise, the decision was made to see if the animal would refloat and navigate out of the area with high tide,” Seacor added.

However, the animal was not able to leave the pond on Thursday. 

“With welfare as our top priority and considering the poor condition and low likelihood of survival for this compromised animal, the decision was made to use medical intervention to make this whale more comfortable and mitigate prolonged suffering,” Seacor said.

The whale is still alive and shows “no signs of obvious injury” like a vessel strike or entanglement in fishing gear, according to DEM. Despite this, DEM confirmed the whale is in “poor condition.”

DEM said that if the whale was unable to navigate out of the lake on Thursday, “the team [would] evaluate additional options.”

Sarah Callan, a manager of the animal rescue program at Mystic Aquarium, told WJAR that additional options could include euthanasia if the whale is in poor health and compromised. Callan told the news station that it’s “unusual” for animals to become stranded and that it sometimes happens when they are having health problems. 

DEM asked the public to keep an “appropriate distance” from the whale.