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Overview
The Greenland Whale was found on the coast of Belgian floating at the distance of twelve miles from Ostend, on the 3rd November 1827 and was cast on the sands on the eastside of the harbour.
Total length of the animal 95 feet, height 18 feet, length of the head 22 feet, height of the cranium 41/2 feet, length of the vertebra column 69 1/2 feet, number of vertebrae 62, Total number of ribs 28, length of fins 12 feet, length of the fins 12 1/2 feet, length of the fingers 4 1/2 feet, width of the tail 22 1/2 feet, length of the tail 3 feet, weight of the animal when found 240 tons or 480,000 lbs, total weight of the skeleton only 35 tons or 70,000 lbs, quantity of oil extracted from the blubber 4.000 gallons or 40,000 lbs & the weight of the rotten flesh buried in the sand85 tons or 470,000 lbs
The upper jaw was fitted up with 800 fanons of whalebones and from the calculations made by the late Baron Cuvier and the Profefsors [sic] in Paris this enormous animal must have lived from 900 to 1000 years.