KOBO (whale)

[4] KOBO was found on March 3, 1998 when the crew of a pilot boat in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island spotted a dead whale draped across the bulbous bow of the 486-foot (148 m) tanker Botany Triumph.

[1] After identification, the Coast Guard towed the carcass to Second Beach near Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown, Rhode Island.

Parts of the whale were donated to scientific institutions around the world for research on genetics, toxicology, vision, hearing, respiration, and other subjects.

The exact location and date of its death is uncertain, but it was estimated that the whale was struck off the southeast coast of Nova Scotia around March 1, 1998 and was stuck on the ship's bow until several days later, when it was discovered in Narragansett Bay.

The museum borrowed sample vertebrae from Harvard University and made fiberglass casts that were then painted to replicate the appearance of the original bones.

They received about 1,200 entries, and the winner was New Bedford sixth-grader Katie Hallet, who chose the name KOBO, short for King of the Blue Ocean.