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NEW YORK -- An emaciated 60-foot finback whale that washed up on a coastal community devastated by Superstorm Sandy has died, marine officials said Thursday.
The whale was found beached Wednesday in Breezy Point, Queens, where 126 homes burned down and more than 2,000 were damaged during the Oct. 29 storm. It was carried out at high tide but washed ashore another time on Thursday, and marine officials said they found it dead, according to media reports.
“Biologists have confirmed that the whale has died,” Mendy Garron, a marine mammal rescue specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Reuters. “Plans are currently being developed for necropsy and disposal of the carcass."
PhotoBlog: Finback whale beached at Breezy Point
Finback whales are an endangered species. They are second in size only to the blue whale, and can reach up to 70 feet in length and weigh up to 70 tons. The whales migrate to equatorial waters in the fall and during winter, they mostly fast, surviving on their fat reserves. Winter is also when they mate, and calves are born one year later, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
It is one of the fastest large whales and can stay underwater for up to 50 minutes on one breath.
Tim Dufficy, 26, a member of the Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department, said the firehouse was contacted by security in the private cooperative about the animal. He and a few other volunteers took some new equipment, such as a portable pump and a special hose, that they'd gotten in the aftermath of the storm to keep water flowing on the whale during low tide since it was mostly out of the water.
"Everyone was hoping," he told NBC News. "But ... we knew the prospects were grim."
The whale did respond to the firefighters efforts, opening its eyes and moving its tails and side fins, he said. The fire crew eventually left the animal in the care of marine biologists. When Dufficy went to check back on the whale on Thursday, it had drifted seven blocks down the beach.
Rob DiGiovanni, executive director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation told NBCNewYork.com on Wednesday that the whale was “severely emaciated” and that the outcome did not look good.
Calls placed Thursday seeking comment to the foundation and NOAA were not immediately returned.
The whale was found on the bay side of the community, which is tucked in by the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay. With most homes rendered uninhabitable by the storm, many residents have had to move away and make daily trips to continue repairs.
Sharks, dolphins and a large sea turtle have also turned up on the beaches of Breezy Point, which was founded more than a century ago by Irish immigrants. It's not clear how many survived, said Dufficy, though he knew the sea turtle was alive when marine officials took it away.
A whale also beached itself on the community's Atlantic coast around the summer of 1960, said Point Breeze Fire Chief Marty Ingram.
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Leave a Comment:
why dont' they just take the whale further out into the sea and sink it!
It's important to learn the reason for the whale's death. Thus, the necropsy first and then deal with the carcass.
they need to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars taxpayers money first,then will spend hundreds of thousands more carting it off to a landfill with a mob controlled trucking firm !
"...was founded more than a century ago by Irish immigrants. It's not clear how many survived..."
Many did, along with a number of Jews and Italians.
cheetah-822547 you need to learn to read. you sound like a Fox News anchor taking things out of context
Yes!! Another dead whale on the beach story. Hopefully we get daily updates on this one too.
Sad to see such a magnificent animal lost.
Stop ocean dumping. Stop the flow of pollutants into the seas. The Oceans are an incredibly important part of the biosphere, and must be protected. If the Oceans die, we die.
I like turtles.
Looks like it's already too late for us mammals. The oceans are dying. We've screwed our environment and shat the bed. When the apocalypse comes it will be because we've brought it on ourselves.
Get ready. We're all going to die. At least when it arrives I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I did what I could to stave it off as long as I could, and the deniers will hear me when I say, 'I told you so.'
Freedom4 -
You post a lot of idiotiic comments - do you think your sewage doesn't flow down-hill to the ocean?
When they do the necropsy, I wonder how much plastic and trash they will find....
Looks like the whale was too sick to survive. Without enough body fat they die rather quickly.
Damn you Boehner !! Just kidding .....It is pretty sad.
Pollution would KILL anything of the coast of NYC and most of NJ.
Don't die, Snookie! Please don't die! Snooookie! Huh, what? Oh, that kind of whale.
Ha! Nice 1
looks like Chris Christie took a dip into breezy point instead of seaside hights NJ
I told Christie not to go for that Polar Bear club swim, but you know Jerseyites..............
In addition to an already massive loss of life and limb, though not my own - my heart is starting to feel human heartfelt loss as life continues on as it has been for some time. Equal to this most sad realization of human frailty, God has provisioned me as recipient of and with immense sense of spiritus mondi. I am lifted by ones before me and along side me as I shall life up ones after and along side me. I act and speak against those of whom "should" or in a position to know better, yet, continue to engage in selfish behavior without regard for one as part of the whole of humanity. This story reminds me of Jonah; historical story should be well known by now. Sadness shall prevail lest we in the know take sail. To me, in my minds eye, only two life forms are upon this earth: native and alien, those inately born with spiritual insight and outlook and those without spiritual sight or outlook. They without spiritual sight may have sight - shall the spiritual sighted give right. Natural law always ruled and shall show openfaced upon the earth and heavens for all to see and become blind no more. But, lest one desires not to see and live by the law one must die by the same law to best safeguard future of law that binds us all whether spiritually alive or dead - for I maintain every reason to believe there is spiritual and physical life after after physical and spiritual death. Critical thought to ponder: Are we to continue crying with sorrow or cry out loud with faith in truth to overcome sorrow?
If you write 200 - 300 words and make no specific point, you should be made a specific example and banned from this site going forward!
Too bad none 'o y'all know what your talkin' about. This is hilarious banter from a drunken bar room. Keep up the good work!
Bunch 'o clowns and psychos post here I see..... Take a whiff of reality if ya ever get the chance!
Thank you to everyone who tried to help this poor creature. My hat's off to those brave folks who stood out in the cold hosing him down. That was truly selfless and a reminder that there are still good people out there.
1Joy.... you make no sense whatsoever.
So this is what happened to Hillary Clinton...wondered what became of her...
What do we americans expect.......... new york................ say's it all nothing lives or could live in there polluted waters. No wonder people are so unfriendly, angry and arrogant there.
Plenty of things live in our waters. Shows what you know. Don't hate us because we're better then you.
R.I.P. "sludgie the whale" you will be missed ,especially by the seagulls,rats &sharks that can feed off of your carcuss !
`
It is carcass, you carc-ass.
Good one Meg!!
There is going to be a HUGE die off of marine life in the very near future. You'll start to see dead/dieing beached mammals by the thousands. Mark my words.
poor whale, now chop it up and give it to the feed the hungry program. oh wait , instead lets use our tax money to give it an autopsy!