Dead Humpback Whale Found on Fire Island

FIRE ISLAND, NY - A dead humpback whale was discovered on a Fire Island beach on Tuesday evening, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

Member was alerted by US Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound of a deceased humpback whale floating offshore by Ocean Beach around 6 p.m.

The whale then beached between Kismet and the Robert Moses Lighthouse.

On Wednesday morning authorities removed the animal from the surf and conduct a stranding investigation.

According to the AMCS, the whale was severely decomposed and the carcass was not intact.

Due to the level of decomposition, a necropsy examination was limited.

Officials was able to determine the animal was a male, may have been 34 feet in length, and found lacerations consistent with vessel strike.

The exact cause of death has not yet been determined. Those results can several months.

The remains were buried on the beach.

Image via Atlantic Marine Conservation Society