Sperm whale carcass ad yanked from eBay site

An eBay ad offering the sale of a sperm whale carcass from the western Newfoundland community of Cape St. Georgewas pulled Monday afternoon after the online auction site learned the town was trying to sell a marine mammal.

Mayor Peter Fenwick said earlier Monday the town had no idea how to dispose of the carcass, which had washed ashore in the community about a week ago.

Fenwick said the roughly 12-metre long-carcass hadn't begun to deteriorate much, and the town wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

This is the fourthwhale carcass that has washed ashore on western Newfoundland this spring after severe winter ice on the island's coast.

Two blue whales washed ashore in Trout River and Rocky Harbour, both near Gros Morne National Park.

Another sperm whale carcass washed ashore near Trespassy in Biscay Bay in early April.

Fenwick told CBC News the town wasn't looking to make a big profit on the carcass, and just wanted to get rid of the whale.

"Our problem is, it's the responsibility of a town when a whale washes up on the beach in an incorporated area," he said.

"We were told by the relevant people that it was our whale, we got to dispose of it."

Fenwick said the town tried to find local fisherman to drag the carcass out to rot in an isolated area, but there wasn't appropriate equipment available for the task.

He said the town council held a meetingand came up with the idea to advertise the carcass on eBay and see what happened.

According to Fenwick, bidding started at 99 centsand had climbed to $2,000 before the town took the addown after receiving a request from eBay, whichdoes not allow the sale of marine mammals on its website.