Deceased Minke Whale Found Near Westhampton

WESTHAMPTON, NY — A deceased minke whale was found in Moriches Bay Saturday.

Chris DeVivo said he and his wife Caryn were out on their first boat trip of the season when they saw the whale on a sandbar in Moriches Bay about one-eighth of a mile from the inlet.

According to Rob DiGiovanni, Jr. chief scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, a team was convening Monday to perform a necropsy; the whale drifted to Cupsogue Beach County Park since it was first discovered, he said.

The whale was badly decomposed, DiGiovanni said, making the necropsy "problematic". Aerial surveys were also performed Monday, he said.

The whale was also the eighth found deceased in the New York area since January, he said, adding, though, that while the number is higher than normally seen, that number "balances out," from year to year, with last summer "quieter than usual." The average number found in a given year is between 12 and 14, DiGiovanni said.

In December, DiGiovanni said a recent spate of whale strandings on Long Island and in nearby areas was likely due to natural causes, not humans.

A deceased humpback whale first washed ashore in Southampton in December and was then carried out by the storm tides before it was found on the beach in Napeaugue State Park, DiGiovanni said.

The humpback whale's stranding was followed by a Risso's dolphin found in Montauk and a short-beaked common dolphin found in Westhampton Beach, AMSEAS said.

A whale was found in a North Fork creek in November.

A sperm whale was found "struggling" in the surf on Rockaway Beach in December, DiGiovanni said.

The public is encouraged to report even regular sightings because if it can be determined that the increase in strandings is reflective of a general uptick in the whale population nearby, that would be helpful, DiGiovanni said.

"When we conduct these examinations, we look at two basic categories — natural or human-induced deaths. One thing we have not found is that they are human-induced. We are looking now to natural or biological issues," DiGiovanni said.

AMSEAS thanked the public for reporting the strandings using the New York State Stranding Hotline and asked people to call 631-369-9829 to report any sick, injured, or deceased marine mammal or sea turtles.