KPC students gain ‘hands-on’ experience during whale necropsy

When a 47-foot-long, deceased whale washed up on a beach near Anchorage in November 2024, a team of biologists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services (AVPS) arrived on the scene the following day to inspect the carcass. The team determined the carcass was from a two-year-old fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). During the necropsy, a group of nine students in Kenai Peninsula College (KPC)’s Semester by the Bay (SBB) program had the opportunity to participate in the necropsy and gain first-hand experience in marine biology.

Read more about this valuable educational experience and what the students had to say about it here.