Montauk shore reopens to beachgoers after removal of dead whale

A stretch of the Montauk shore reopened to beachgoers in time for the weekend after successful efforts to remove a dead humpback whale, found floating in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this week, six miles offshore, officials said Saturday.

A team of agencies secured the humpback whale and brought it to a beach at the end of Eton Road in Montauk for a necropsy. The examination was completed Friday evening.

The groups involved were the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, a not-for-profit that responds to reports of dead or entangled marine animals in New York State; the U.S. Coast Guard; the East Hampton Marine Patrol; and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Conservation Society also had support from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

“The whale was female and just over 30 feet in length," Atlantic Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Rachel Bosworth said. "The animal was fairly decomposed. It is difficult to determine when the animal died or its age due to decomposition and predation.”

The whale's remains were disposed of by East Hampton Town, officials said.

Scientists who performed the necropsy  said since no immediate cause of death was evident samples were taken and will be sent to a pathologist to help learn more about its death. Results may take several months to come back.

Officials had closed access to beachgoers south of Old Montuak Highway, from South Eton Road at Umbrella Beach to the west, during the whale's removal. That stretch of beach has reopened.

This is the third  whale sighting  the Conservation Society has responded to this year, and the second whale that died.

Officials said the public should report marine mammal and sea turtle strandings to the NYS Stranding Hotline at 631-369-9829.