Beached whale's body shows bruising, scientist says
A dead whale, believed to be a humpback more than 30 feet long, washed up Thursday morning at Jones Beach State Park. (June 10, 2010) Credit: Newsday / Mario Gonzalez
A 30-foot humpback whale that washed ashore dead on Jones Beach had blunt-force trauma and bruising, scientists said Friday.
The scientists completed the necropsy of the whale Friday but do not know the exact cause of death. The whale, which was discovered Thursday, has been buried at Jones Beach.
The trauma, which happened before the animal died, may have come from being hit by a boat or other vessel, said Robert DiGiovanni, a senior biologist and director at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.
"It has some impact on the animal's life," DiGiovanni said. "We think that could be contributory to its death."
DiGiovanni said because the whale has decomposed, scientists have not been able to obtain more information.
'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
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