The Coast Guard station in Newburyport, Mass, tried to sink and retrieve the carcass last Monday, said Chris J. Falcone, a petty officer there. But the retrieval effort was unsuccessful.

Falcone said his office "definitely assumed" that this carcass was the one seen off the coast of New Hampshire.

On Tuesday, the whale was again spotted off-shore, and its jaw was still intact. The carcass apparently drifted into Essex Bay late Tuesday night. The couple cut the jaw out before dawn on Wednesday.

The whale was found near Crane Beach on land owned by the Trustees of Reservation, a non-profit organization working to preserve this shoreline. That group assisted in transporting officials to the site.

Chupasko said the retrieval of the specimen began Thursday as a joint effort by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the New England Aquarium.

The sperm whale, whose species is the largest of the toothed whales, is an important addition for the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The museum now has the remains of three sperm whales.

Chupasko said sperm whales are "significant in history." She said several barrels of oil can be recovered from the large spermaceti organ in their heads.

Before the days of electricity, when oil-burning lamps were in use, the oil of the sperm whale was highly prized.

Now, so are the teeth