Officials Onhand to Speak to Residents About Whale Euthanization Sunday Morning; Vigil to Follow

WESTHAMPTON, NY — Officials will be onhand Sunday to speak to residents, just hours before a vigil planned for a humpback whale that was euthanized Wednesday after a huge public outpouring of individuals trying to save its life.

NOAA will be available to hear from the community on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Moriches Waterway Access Site.

On Monday, NOAA said there are plans to share any preliminary results of the necropsy, and final results from lab reports when they are available.

According to a statement on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Facebook page: "We want to update you on the plans for the Moriches Bay humpback whale. This was a heartbreaking stranding event for all involved. Over the next two days, we will be removing the whale from the sandbar. It will be taken to the Cupsogue Beach County Park, where marine scientists will perform a necropsy."

NOAA officials said that, from the "earliest hours of this stranding, experienced marine mammal responders were pursuing different options to to help free the whale, including an attempt with wave action from boats. Other methods were considered, but each presented the potential of causing significant damage to the animal, as we have seen in other strandings."

The statement continued, "We are committed to learning as much as we can from this stranding event."

A written statement about the stranding from NOAA can be found here.

Scores planning to attend Sunday vigil

Mourners will gather Sunday at a vigil for a humpback whale euthanized Wednesday after becoming stranded Sunday on a sandbar in Moriches Bay.

The vigil will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. on the beach by the Coast Guard Station Moriches, located at 100 Moriches Island Road in East Moriches.

Plans are in place to set up a cross "in memory of this beautiful creature," wrote organizers on the Locals Only Facebook page.

A petition has also been created to send to elected officials, demanding change and a "Local Marine Mammal Contingency Plan." To sign the petition, click here.

The petition said the plan would give "local authorities or properly trained citizens to the right supersede the federal government and gain the legal right to provide needed rescue efforts when these federally protected mammals become stranded or beached within locally regulated waters."

Rescuers said they were onhand with the equipment, funding, manpower, boats, a helicopter, divers, a barge, and commitment to help the whale, but have alleged they were blocked. "These dedicated citizens were in place to begin a rescue attempt when the federal government told them to stand down and threatened fines and arrests," the petition states.

Volunteers who tried valiantly to save the whale were devastated this week after the decision was made to euthanize the whale, who had been stranded since Sunday.

NOAA Fisheries representatives said the decision to euthanize was made in the whale's best interests, "to end its suffering."

Community calls for action

The outcome outraged the large group of residents who have united to try and save the whale, bringing boats to the bay and even setting up a GoFundMe page and a live feed cam on the Locals Only Facebook page.

"Only a matter of a few feet separated this whale from life," a post on the page said shortly after the whale was euthanized. "Tragic mishandling of a situation by our government. They should have been there on Sunday afternoon when it was first breached. Not four days later. Pathetic."

Derek Wells, who runs the page along with his partner, was deeply troubled by the end result. "I am extremely disappointed in the efforts made by NOAA. They were too little too late, and I do not believe that there was ever a rescue planned at all. Like most of their whales' breaches, it was an access and euthanize."

Wells said he plans to fight back.

"I am working with a lawyer who works with the Stranded No More Group to get a formal letter drafted to our local representatives. With the increase of bunker in the area, this is bound to happen again. We should act to get things changed while everyone is still passionate about this," he said.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, was livid Wednesday. "I'm not only sad, I'm angry. We had absolutely no plan and no response for this situation. Congressman Zeldin and Senator Ken LaValle need to form a whale response task force so we prevent this from happening in the future. Doing nothing is not an option; we are better than that."

Elected officials also expressed unhappiness at how the situation was handled. New York State Senator Ken LaValle called for a Senate hearing to address issues that arose during whale rescue efforts. Bowman said now that the whale is euthanized, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Riverhead Foundation will decide together how to dispose of the whale's 20-ton remains.

On Tuesday, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo had issued a statement saying he would do everything possible to save the humpback whale.

Photo courtesy of Michael Busch.