For
http://salemwiki.info/index.php/Exploration_EventsFound this guy on a sandbar. Sorry I didn't take better screenshots. I was lagging client-side on my way back to Prov, already overencumbered (see pile of stuff I threw out on the sand), and didn't want to risk the server crashing (again) when I was on a boat, making me lose all of my loot, so I just grabbed it all up and ran.
The whale could be butchered, which yielded 15 Blubber and 5 Whale Bone. If I gained insanity, it wasn't a lot.
I have music turned off in the Latikai client, but I still heard cutesy music when I happened across it. Doo-deedle-deedle-doot-doot...doot-doot-doot. It was fairly quiet for me, though. If you're specifically hunting exploration events, it would seem you can turn off music, but you might want to keep your volume up.
The whale and whatever had pierced it disappeared after butchering. There was no skinning option or anything, nor could the flag/harpoon be clicked on independently.