Stranded South Kingstown whale dies
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WLNE) — A scrambling effort to rescue the whale that got stuck in Potters Pond in South Kingstown Thursday unfortunately came up short as the whale had to be euthanized overnight.
Crews were in the water throughout Friday morning performing tests on the whale and removed it from the pond.
“How it got into this channel I’m not really sure because it’s really shallow but it’s a tragic site. It’s a beautiful animal,” said Chris Melley, South Kingstown.
Chris Melley is one of many people in South Kingstown that have come out to Potters Pond over the past two days to see the whale that was stranded in the shallow waters in the marina.
Throughout the day Thursday, rescue crews were with the whale, hoping it would be able to free itself with rising tides.
Due to the whale’s poor condition, a representative from the mystic Aquarium tells ABC6, they decided to euthanize it overnight.
“Before everyone got here, my husband and I went down to the dock, and we were just listening to it breathing and it was beautiful, so yeah, my heart breaks to see that it didn’t make it,” said Lynn Goodwin of South Kingstown.
Lynn Goodwin lives in the home right on the water where the whale was stranded Thursday morning, and she was the one that spotted it and called the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
“I could see an object out there and my first thought was ‘that’s a whale,’ and my second thought was ‘that’s impossible,'” said Goodwin.
This morning, the DEM and a crew from Mystic Aquarium in coordination with NOAA performed a necropsy on the whale, and the whale was tied to the back of a boat and removed around 11 a.m.
Over the past 24 hours dozens of people came out to see the 42-foot, 25,000 pound whale.
“Seen seals, but never anything this large being able to come up into the harbors,” said Lynn Goodwin.
“It’s very hectic for snug harbor but it was nice. I guess a lot of people were just concerned that the whale would be able to be rescued.”
