It being January with a water temperature of 37°F did not keep the Belfast Marine Institute from recently diving after the remaining Minke whale bones in Belfast Harbor.

On a bright Saturday morning, BMI staff and students went out to straighten and untangle its kelp lines off City Park and used the opportunity to also try and recover the remaining 15% of the 22-foot long female Minke whale that washed ashore in Belfast in September 2024. It was then moved to a mooring in the harbor and as the carcass deteriorated, its bones scattered around the mooring site.

BMI has made repeated dives on the site recovering a large percentage of the animal's faunal remains. But there is still more out there. While January meant colder air and colder water, it also provided for greater visibility. Air temps were in the low 40°Fs, there was a slight northerly breeze and a sunny sky offered good visibility on the bottom. For over an hour, a circular search pattern was conducted and the mammal’s second radius was recovered as well as one of its last missing vertebrae.

The recovered pieces show signs of being slowly buried in the harbor bottom sediment as well as covered in growth of sea squirts and a starfish. Those remains will join the others for preservation, faunal analysis and possible re-articulation.

For more information about the Belfast Marine Institute visit https://bahsmarineinstitute.rsu71.org/.