The bones of a massive blue whale that died 20 years ago off Prince Edward Island are being laid bare in a unique project to preserve one of the largest creatures ever to live on Earth.

Scientists and a small army of diggers began the grim work Saturday of pulling apart the remains of a 27-metre-long female blue whale in preparation for transport to a new museum in British Columbia where she will be the star attraction.

Although the whale was a queen of the seas during her lifetime, she is now a large jigsaw puzzle as her bones are dissected and numbered for restoration once they arrive in B.C.

The atmosphere at the dig site near Tignish in western Prince Edward island is tinged with excitement and with the nauseating odour of rotting flesh.

Project leader Andrew Trites of the University of British Columbia said no one predicted so much of the whale would remain after two decades of burial, and it is making the task of separating the bones more difficult and much smellier.

"Most of the whale is now unburied and we're removing it bone by bone, starting from the tail end," Trites said in an interview.

"The toughest part is on the tail. There's a surprising amount of meat still on the animal so they're finding it very tough cutting."...