Humpback whale washed ashore in New York likely to have been hit by ship: NOAA

Federal authorities said Wednesday that a humpback whale washed ashore on a beach in New York this week was likely killed by the vessel.

An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death of the whale, a male named Luna, who was over 40 years old and has been monitored by marine biologists for decades, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The whale was spotted Monday morning in Long Island’s Lido Beach West Town Park and brought to shore with a crane.

This is reported by News 4 correspondent Greg Sergol.

An autopsy team including representatives from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, NOAA Fisheries, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Mystic Aquarium Animal Response Program and the Marine Mammal Center met on Tuesday and cut open the blubber to collect samples of the whale’s internal organs. authorities, NOAA said in a statement.

The whale likely died in the collision with the vessel, officials said, but more will be known as sample results become available.

Officials said the whale’s level of decomposition indicated it died days before it was washed ashore, contradicting early reports that the animal washed ashore while it was alive.

The whale was about 41 feet long and weighed 29,000 pounds, officials said.

NOAA, which is in charge of the nation’s oceans and fisheries, says 19 humpback whales were stranded off the US Atlantic coast last year. During the first month of this year, seven whales were washed ashore from Maine to Florida.