Whales are rarely sighted in the Northern Adriatic, which is why the discovery of a dead female fin whale in the Gulf of Piran in March 2003 aroused much public interest. Her skeleton was placed in the custody of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History. The cause of death remains unknown, but possible reasons include lack of food, disease, collision with a ship, poisoning or something else entirely. When the 13.2 meters long body was discovered, it already showed signs of decay, indicating the female had been dead for some time. The skeletonization of the body at the bottom of the Gulf of Piran took from March 2003 to May 2004. We affectionately named her Leonora. She is the largest exhibit that the museum has ever acquired.