NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — Those who have stopped by the New Bedford Whaling Museum have more than likely marveled over the 66-foot whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.
Robert Rocha, the museum’s associate curator of science and research, told 12 News he has a silly, yet strange warning he gives visitors caught staring in awe at the whale, whose name is KOBO.
“I like to joke with visitors that are standing underneath the skeleton that this is a good reminder to not look up with your mouth open,” he said.
That’s because Rocha said the rare blue whale skeleton is actually leaking oil.
KOBO, short for “King of the Blue Ocean,” has been on display at the museum for 24 years now. Rocha explained that KOBO’s bone marrow is actually “full of oil,” even though the whale has been dead for more than two decades.
“It’s seeping out through the pores of the bones,” Rocha said. “The outer edges of the bone are a little more porous than human bones and [gravity is] just pulling the oil out.”