Republished April 05, 2017 - 1:05 PM
Original Publication Date April 05, 2017 - 4:55 AM
NEW YORK - Marine biologists say a humpback whale that washed up on a New York City beach appears to have died after being struck by a vessel.
Experts from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society say a necropsy shows the whale had tissue damage consistent with blunt force trauma.
The approximately 30-foot (9-meter)-long whale was found Tuesday on Rockaway Beach in Queens.
Volunteers and city fire crews tied the whale's tail to a tractor to prevent it from floating away. The whale's weight prevented it from being moved farther on shore.
It will be buried in a deep trench on the beach.
Humpback whales can grow to up to 60 feet (18 metres) and weigh 40 tons (36 metric tons). This one was estimated to be 2 to 5 years old.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017