The 60-foot finback whale that beached itself in New York City appears to have died, biologists said Thursday morning.
The national fisheries officials who inspected the whale in the morning said they had not seen the mammal take a breath in 45 minutes, Robert DiGiovanni Jr., executive director of the Riverhead Foundation, told the New York Times at 10:45 a.m.
"We can basically say that it's dead," Mr. DiGiovanni told the New York Times.
Experts said the ailing whale was a finback, the second biggest animal species in the world after blue whales, and came ashore in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens.
Police and firefighters had immediately begun carefully spraying it with water to keep it alive until experts could take over.
But Mendy Garron, a regional specialist for the federal NOAA Fisheries service, said the sea mammal was "really emaciated, not a good body condition at all."
It was "not moving a lot," she added..
Garron noted that, on average each year, "we've got a couple of large whale species strandings in NY. Occasionally they are alive."
The sea mammals beach themselves for different reasons. It could be "due to natural causes, old age or disease, and sometimes, for human cause instances, like a boat strike or fishing interaction," she explained.
Adult finbacks can reach up to 88 feet and weigh up to 70 tons.
They are found in all the world's oceans and they can live to 100 years old.
According to the Riverhead Foundation, at least 25 species of whales and dolphins have been seen in the New York region.作者: kws森 時間: 2012-12-28 10:01 AM
Left to die: Experts suggest it is best to leave the whale alone to let it die of natural causes
Unexpected: The beached whale was spotted around 10.40am on Wednesday and the first responders (not pictured) tried to keep it comfortable by pouring water on it
Unexpected visitor: The beached humpback whale was found Wednesday morning and is anywhere between 30 and 50 feet long
How to proceed: No timetable has been given for the expected time of death of the whale
Tricky: Unconfirmed reports say that it is a pregnant female humpback whale
Bad sign: The prospects of the whale's survival were grim from the beginning
Tough temperatures: New York is on the brink of having snow making the rescue effort more difficult
Making the effort: When live whales are stranded on shore, they are typically already sick or injured
Location: Breezy Point was one of the hardest-hit areas during Hurricane Sandy