Person in a workshop stands beside a large whale skeleton model on a table, holding a display showing the whale’s flipper bones. Tools, maps, and marine research materials line the walls.
Staff member at the Noyo Center for Marine Science Jackie Burns holds a flipper of the of the Hubbs’ beaked whale at the Noyo Center Field Station in Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Burns worked on the ‘flipper’ team during the articulation of the Hubbs’ beaked whale. ‘Each section of the skeleton was assigned a team to work on the project.’ ‘The next step is to have it on display, and I’m excited it will be here in the Discovery Center to teach the public about this rare and elusive whale’ Burns said. (Mary Rose Kaczorowski via Bay City News)

FORT BRAGG, CA., 10/25/25 — When a rare female beaked whale washed ashore on the Mendocino Coast just south of Fort Bragg, it sparked a scientific collaboration that stretched from Fort Bragg to San Francisco. The Noyo Center for Marine Science and the California Academy of Sciences joined forces to study, preserve and eventually articulate, or put together, the skeleton of a Hubbs’ beaked whale, one of the ocean’s most elusive deep-diving species.

On Sept. 15, the Noyo Center hosted the Hubbs’ Beaked Whale Articulation Workshop, giving the public a chance to watch teams of volunteers and scientists reassemble the skeleton. The process took several weeks of painstaking effort. At the center of the effort were Sarah Grimes, the Noyo Center’s stranding coordinator; Sheila Semans, the center’s executive director; and Moe Flannery, senior collections manager of ornithology and mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences.

Continue reading for FREE

We just want to make sure you’re a human! Sign in to keep reading and receive our weekday newsletter in your inbox.

Or

Privacy Policy

Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.
Please visit My Account to manage your account.

Mary Rose Kaczorowski is a freelance reporter and occasional correspondent for The Mendocino Voice. She originated from the East Coast, and has worked in the nonprofit sector and public policy space from...