Customs officers in Baltimore-Washington International airport were in for a surprise last weekend when they discovered whalebones in the suitcase of a passenger traveling from Iceland, the Baltimore Sun reports. The bones were found during a luggage inspection at the airport.
The passenger informed that they were whalebones but the importation of some bones is restricted and its up to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to regulate whalebones.
The bones seem to be from the vertebra, they were promptly seized and sent to a research facility to determine their origin but the passenger was released. The Fish and Wildlife Service will determine which species of whale the bones belong to and if they are from an endangered species they will be confiscated, if not they will be returned to the passenger.