Officials with Ripley's Believe It or Not! are trying to decide this week whether they'll dig up a 13-metre sperm whale that was buried on P.E.I.'s North Shore 21 years ago.

Thom MacMillan, co-owner of the Ripley's museum in Cavendish, told CBC News Monday the company buried the whale with the idea that it might eventually be dug up and used as part of a museum exhibit.

Ripley's vice-president of exhibits and archives will be on P.E.I. this week to take a look at the whale.

But first, company officials will have to find it. It's buried on a property in the Darnley area, north of Summerside.

"Over the next few days we're just going to make some contact with the landowner, which has already been done by phone, and meet … to see where it is and see who remembers where exactly it was buried on the property," said MacMillan.

Hoping flesh is gone

Officials will then do a test dig to see what condition the skeleton is in.

"We're going to have a look at it to see, I guess, if the flesh is kind of rotted off it, and see if it's worthwhile to dig up to probably put on display somewheres," said MacMillan.

"There is an expense involved, and if you have to clean the bones it's more of an expense and maybe it's just not worth it."

MacMillan said if the decision is made to dig up the whale, the bones will likely be sent to another Ripley's museum in Canada. The facility in Cavendish isn't large enough to accommodate the whale skeleton.

If the project goes ahead, this would be the second whale skeleton removed from P.E.I. for display. A blue whale skeleton was dug up in 2008 and is now on display at the University of British Columbia.