An enormous 35-foot-long male humpback whale washed up on a Long Island beach early Monday morning. Nassau County police said the whale was discovered near Lido Beach West Borough Park in the town of Hempstead at 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
When rescuers finally arrived, the whale was already dead, according to Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, who spoke to News 12.
Seven beached whales have been on the Jersey Shore in the past month, but Clavin claims that it has been years since anyone in Hempstead has seen one.
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“This is by far the largest,” he noted. “The crews that have been here for almost two decades have never seen a whale this size.” According to Clavin, crews dragged the enormous beast further up the coast.
“We had to move the whale to higher ground because of the high tide,” Clavin noted.
He later added:
“It’s 35-feet-long. Just pulling it up on the shore, we had to bring in a heavy crane. And the wires were snapping because of the tonage it was required to really bring it to higher ground.”
Meanwhile, folks came to the shore on a mild winter day to watch the gigantic beast.
“You don’t see something like this in your lifetime, I understand that — but it’s also a really sad day here,” Clavin said. “This whale died, and unfortunately you’re going to have people coming here to take a look at it.”
The whale will be fenced off by the town of Hempstead so that officials can conduct a necropsy as soon as possible. On Tuesday, federal officials will conduct a necropsy to determine the animal’s cause of death.
Interment of the whale will involve cooperation from multiple agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation.
News 12 reports that the Atlantic Marine Conversation Society was present, but the organization did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. Similarly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were inaccessible for observation.