COROLLA, N.C. (WAVY) — A humpback whale washed up on the beach in Corolla Thursday.
According to Jennette’s Pier, members of the OBX Marine Mammal Stranding Network located the dead juvenile whale washed up just north of Shad Street in the surf zone.
“I believe a beach worker saw it, recorded it,” said Daryl Law, communications manager at Jennette’s Pier. “Everybody is walking the beaches these days with their dog in the morning and a telephone in their pocket. This animal was actually hung up on the sandbar. It’s been dead for a couple of weeks and then floating around.”
Officials with Jennette’s Pier said she weighed approximately 60,000 pounds and was 33 feet, 7 inches long. Officials are working to determine the cause of death.
“We’re doing a necropsy on the juvenile humpback whale female in very decomposed conditions,” said Marina Doshkov, marine mammal stranding coordinator at Jennette’s Pier.
Workers from Currituck County Public Works pulled the whale to the beach berm Friday to allow for scientists to conduct a necropsy and an external exam.
