A 56ft fin whale - second only in size to the blue whale - was washed ashore on Coll in February 2004.
A Baffling Mystery
It was designated as Crown property and gifted to the National Museum of Scotland, who sent a team to take the remains back for the museum's collection. Zoologists were baffled however when it emerged that the 12ft long jawbones - which weigh about 250kg - had gone missing. "At the moment we are stuck with the world's largest chinless wonder," said the curator of birds and mammals at NMS. He added: "The disappearance of these jawbones is a most unusual zoological phenomenon. We would be very grateful to anybody on Coll who might happen to stumble across them."
Solved
The mystery was solved a few weeks later when the bones were handed over by a local farmer on whose land they had been hidden. Several islanders had sought to build their own whale bone arch - the likes of which can be seen on several other Scottish islands - which would act as a "permanent reminder" that the whale had been on the island.
Resolution
A spokeswoman for the National Museum of Scotland said the museum was delighted the jawbones had been found. She added: "We are happy to talk to the islanders about possibilities, including a cast, that would be mutually beneficial." The cast came to fruition, and stands here today to greet visitors to the island.
The whale was nicknamed Collette by schoolchildren and a plaque beside the replicas explains the unusual story behind the giant mandibles.
