NEW YORK — Another dead whale washed up overnight, making Monday’s tragic discovery the 10th loss of large aquatic mammals in the past two months.
Authorities were on Long Island after a male humpback whale was spotted off Lido Beach before 7:00 a.m. He was dead when found.
Crowds gathering to catch the whale throughout the day prompted Hempstead Town crews to erect temporary fences around the whale. It was so big that a backhoe was needed to move it away from the shore.
Researchers estimate the whale to be 40 feet long and believed to be about 5 years old.
The humpback whale is the 10th largest whale to have washed up on Atlantic beaches, including Long Island and New Jersey, in the past two months.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports 178 humpback whale strandings in 13 Atlantic states since 2016. The agency has called those deaths an “unusual mortality event” and says they are still being investigated.
NOAA says about half of the whales found dead had been struck by ships. Whether the whale found on the Lido beach was the victim of a ship collision or died in some other way, the answer will be determined by experts at the Atlantic Marine Conversation Society.
