《TAIPEI TIMES》 Skeleton of beached whale to be displayed: agency

/ Staff writer, with CNA

The skeleton of a blue whale that beached in Taitung County would be displayed at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtung County next summer, the Ocean Conservation Administration said.

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The whale’s carcass was found in January 2020 on a beach in Changbin Township （長濱）, the agency said, adding that it was the first blue whale beaching recorded in Taiwan.

The agency at the time invited experts to study the carcass, given the incident’s rarity nationally and globally.

The agency in November last year signed a memorandum with the museum, and National Chen Kung University’s Marine Biology and Cetacean Research Center to restore and preserve the animal’s bones, and exhibit them to promote public awareness about conservation.

Even though the whale was relatively young and only 20m long, the preservation work has been extremely difficult, the agency said, attributing the challenges to the animal’s cartilaginous tissue and fractured skull.

After steaming — a process used to remove soft tissue from the bones — the bones are degreased, dried and bleached several times before they can be stored and used for more intricate tasks, such as placement, coloring and assembly, it said.

The agency has built a model using 3D scanning to ensure that the bones are stored and assembled correctly.

The model also simulates the restoration of the missing skull pieces, which would provide the team with reference when rebuilding the skull, the agency added.

The university has so far processed 156 bones and handed them over to the museum for further restoration, it said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES