Beached whale death leads to bones debate in Denmark
A Copenhagen museum and Vejle Fjord Council are fighting over who will display the skeleton of a beached Whale that died on Sunday in the town’s harbour. Vejle Mayor Arne Sigtenbjerggaard has ordered the body of the Finback whale to be cut up and the bones removed to serve as a tourist attraction for the area.
It has not yet been decided where the skeleton will be exhibited when it comes back from cleaning in New Zealand. “We would like it to be displayed here in Vejle. It’s going to be examined in Vejle and when that has been done, the skeleton has to go through a cleansing process that can take months,” said Mayor Sigtenbjerggaard in a report by Politiken.
Sigtenbjerggaard added that discussions are currently underway between Copenhagen’s Zoological Museum – which houses one of the largest whale skeleton collections in the world – and Vejle Council, with regards as to where the bones will be on show.
“We would like the Zoological Museum to leave the skeleton here in Vejle,” said Sigtenbjerggaard. “There is no reason for everything to be kept in a museum.”
The Finback whale, weighing 30 tonnes and measuring 17.6 metres, beached in Vejle Fjord harbour a week ago. The mammal managed to free itself from the bottom on a few occasions during high tides, but eventually became sick and died.
