50-Foot Whale Washes Ashore on Smith Point Beach

On Thursday morning, the Suffolk County Parks Police was doing a routine patrol of the Smith Point Beach near the campgrounds on the outer beach. That normal patrol came to a quick halt when suddenly they came across a large dead whale that had washed onto the shore.

Parks PD officers immediately notified their headquarters and the Riverhead Foundation was dispatched to the scene to investigate the mammal. According to Riverhead Foundation Rescue Program Director Kimberly Durham, this particular whale was a male finback (fin) whale approximately 50-foot in length. The foundation was doing an external examination of the whale and also trying to find out if it was the same whale that had previously been spotted off Jones Beach but they could not confirm this detail. They were also coordinating with Suffolk County Parks to determine what course of action will be taken to dispose of the whale as well as trying to get what they need to perform a necropsy.

At this time it is uncertain whether the whale died of natural causes or may have been hit by a vessel in the ocean.

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