Offside: Stay, little Valentine, stay
A Flemish coastal town has decided to exhume the remains of a sperm whale that beached there three decades ago
A fatal attraction
Offside should perhaps mention at this point that Valentijn is, or was, a sperm whale who beached at Koksijde in 1989 (pictured), a magnificent 17-metre long, 40 tonne specimen. Koksijde has something of a fatal attraction for whales, who experts think are driven onto the beach there and its district of Oostduinkerke, where the museum is located, by a combination of sandbanks and a north-westerly wind.
They’ve been turning up on a regular basis since the 15th century, but Valentijn is the only one who escaped the rendering plant, where sperm whales provide us with such by-products as spermaceti, used in oil lamps and candles, and ambergris, used in perfume.
Valentijn was given a proper burial and recently even a headstone at his last resting place (as people thought at the time).
According to tests carried out by the veterinary faculty of Ghent University, the bones left behind are in good enough condition to be exhibited. The operation is expected to begin next year.
Valentijn’s name, incidentally, comes from the date on which he died, two days after beaching on 12 February. Sint-André refers to the name of the beach. The people of Koksijde have a thing about naming their beached whales: The most recent, a specimen measuring 10m who washed up in 2004, was named Windekind, after the surfing club of the same name in Oostduinkerke.
Photo courtesy De Standaard
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