Humpback Whale Dies Off The Coast Of Wellfleet

WELLFLEET, MA — A humpback whale died after struggling in the shallow waters off the coast of Wellfleet, the International Fund for Animal Welfare confirmed.

The whale was removed from the water on Thursday after it died overnight on Tuesday, officials from the organization said.

IFAW's local team will conduct tests on the animal, which was 24-feet long and weighed approximately 7,900 lbs, on Friday to determine an approximate cause of death.

During the process of extracting the whale from the water, officials were able to determine that it wasn't one of three whales found off the coast of Plymouth earlier this week.

"The poor body condition, identifying marks, and age of the animal enable researchers to determine this animal is not one of the three whales recently sighted off of Plymouth," officials said.

Assisting in the process were the Wellfleet Harbormaster and Marina, DPW, Wellfleet Police Department, IFAW volunteers, and Winkler Crane.

Photos of the whale were included on a IFAW Facebook post, which can be seen below: