Local News

Swampscott still struggling with dead whale

Looky-loos are approaching and even touching a dead whale that washed up on the North Shore for the second time in three weeks.

The carcass of a humpback whale washed up in Swampscott Tuesday morning.

By Morgan Rousseau

Swampscott officials said they will remove a dead whale that was already towed out to sea after first washing ashore in Marblehead three weeks ago.

The deceased humpback whale washed ashore in Swampscott Tuesday morning after being dropped more than 50 miles off the coast in late April. Swampscott officials are now concerned about looky-loos visiting the whale carcass as it lay decaying near Phillips Beach.

WBZ News Radio reporter James Rojas shared video and photos of the spectacle on X and said people are approaching the whale’s body despite officials asking them not to go within 150 feet of it. 

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In the video, a man is seen touching the whale’s skin and appears to pose for a photo with it. Nearby, onlookers gather to glimpse the whale as it bobs against the shore with each wave.

Swampscott’s Director of Public Works, Gino Cresta, told WBZ he was shocked at the number of people who came to view the whale. 

Cresta said there are health concerns over people having close contact with the carcass.

“Nobody should be touching this! They wanted me to cordon off the area, but I couldn’t because the tide [would] come up and take everything away,” Cresta told the news outlet. 

The 11-year-old female whale, named Espresso, measured about 42 feet long. NOAA officials told The Boston Globe that it’s not clear how the whale passed, but that she was probably dead for a few days before washing ashore. 

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