Dead, decaying whale washes ashore Montauk's Ditch Plains Beach

A dead whale washed up on the shores of the Ditch Plains section of Montauk beachfront early Friday, a day after a fisherman contacted marine authorities to report the carcass floating several miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

Local, state and federal officials were trying to coordinate a necropsy to determine what caused the death — and if it was possible to remove the decaying whale, which was believed to be "badly decomposed."

East Hampton Town Police confirmed the beached carcass and said the matter had been referred to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, based in Hampton Bays.

Atlantic Marine executive director Rob DiGiovanni Jr. told Newsday Friday the carcass was first spotted Thursday and said its location on the beach created logistical issues.

"We suspect it is a female humpback whale, about 40 feet in length, but we don't have any evidence to support that right now and that's what we're trying to determine," DiGiovanni said, adding that the carcass' presence in the surf line — and its state of decomposition — are creating issues, as well.

"It's badly decomposed," he said, "so it's really hard to tell how long it's been dead. These animals, especially if it is a humpback, they only float once they start decomposing, unlike [other whale species] that have a higher blubber content. ... So, it's already undergone significant decomposition when it starts to float — and this is one of those cases where it is already severely decomposed."

Corey Senese, a longtime resident of the Montauk Shores condo complex off Ditch Plains, said the odor emitted from the decomposing whale was overwhelming.

Senese spotted the whale Friday when he came to shoot video of the shoreline, as he does each morning for Instagram followers of his surf instruction business.

"I do a surf check and coming over the deck I’m like, ‘Oh my God. That’s humongous,’ " said Senese, 44. "It was a big surprise. ... The wind is blowing in from the south — and it’s just blowing the stink right up" into the complex.

A spokesperson with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries' Greater Atlantic Region, Andrea Gomez, said the dead whale was one of two that had been monitored in the area — and said the second carcass was last reported floating near Block Island.

She also said the administration was working with the Town of East Hampton's Department of Natural Resources, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Atlantic Marine to "evaluate all options for recovery, examination, and disposal of the Ditch Plains carcass as the animal's condition allows."

Senese said in the 25 years he’s lived at Montauk Shores, dead whales have washed ashore several times, the last about 10 years or so ago — and said authorities removed that whale with a bulldozer, pulling it ashore and burying it.

"That whale wasn’t this big, though," he said. "I don’t know what they’re going to do with this one. It’s really humongous."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.