Bering Strait

Crowds in Anchorage have braved freezing temperatures and slippery ice to see the hulking carcass of a rare fin whale, which washed ashore a few miles from downtown.Sue Heverling wrapped herself in a winter coat, clutched a pair of hiking poles and set out across a frozen mud flat near Anchorage, braving five-degree temperatures and treacherous ice to see the Alaskan city’s newest, and largest, spectacle.She took her first tentative steps on the ice, slipped and fell, then got up and pushed on. As she drew closer, what had appeared modest from a distance now loomed before her.“That is big,” Ms. Heverling, 62, recalled saying to herself.The object of her fascination was the carcass of a 47-foot-long fin whale, which has drawn crowds in Anchorage for days.The young female member of the second largest mammal species had probably washed ashore on the high tide on Saturday, according to Barbara Mahoney, a biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who examined the carcass.Fin whales, considered endangered, regularly swim in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Strait. Every so often, minke whales, gray whales and humpbacks wash ashore in Alaska. But it’s unusual for a fin whale to be found on a beach so close to Alaska’s biggest city, Ms. Mahoney said.So people are captivated. A nearby public trail, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, is usually busy with joggers, bikers and cross-country skiers. This week, hundreds of pairs of eyes turned toward the mud flat and the dark-gray mound the size of a school bus. Residents have posted pictures of the mountain of flesh on social media, where it has inevitably spawned memes.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More