A great white shark has been spotted off the Hamptons near the carcass of a 47ft humpback whale – the 37th dead whale to wash up along the East Coast in recent months.
The deceased whale was found floating about five miles south of Wainscott, Long Island on Wednesday morning by local searchers, who notified the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.
The whale drifted west into Shinnecock Inlet bordering Hampton Bays and South Hampton before being towed away. The whale was so massive that it took two boats to transport it.
Andrea Gomez, a spokesperson for NOAA, told DailyMail.com that a necropsy on the whale was being carried out on Friday by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, the local licensed marine mammal response organization and partner grounding of the organization in New York.
She said preliminary results will be posted on NOAA’s social media page once the team completes its examination of the whale to determine the cause of death.
The deceased whale was found floating about five miles south of Wainscott, Long Island on Wednesday morning by local searchers, who informed the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries
The humpback whale, a species of baleen whale, can weigh between 55,000 and 66,000 pounds. They possess a distinct body shape, which features long pectoral fins and tubercles on the head
The shark was about 35 yards from the dead whale and near the million-dollar homes near South Hampton Beach.
The shark was about 35 yards from the dead whale and near multimillion-dollar homes in the exclusive South Hampton neighborhood, where beachfront homes cost up to $66 million.
“It was a 47ft male humpback whale – larger than we originally estimated,” Rob DiGiovanni, executive director and chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society told DailyMail.com.
He said samples were taken from the whale and sent.
“NOAA Fisheries reported an unusual mortality rate that’s been going on for six or seven years and that’s what we’re seeing now,” he said.
DiGiovanni cited a number of different reasons, but said ship strikes and entanglements were the leading causes of death for humpback and right whales in the North Atlantic.
Infectious diseases are the contributing factor for the minke whale.
According to NOAA, there have been a total of 37 large whale strandings along the US Atlantic coast from January 1, 2023 through June.
NOAA Fisheries considers all baleen whales and sperm whales to be large whales.
The humpback whale, a species of baleen whale, can weigh between 55,000 and 66,000 pounds. They possess a didistinct body shape, which has long pectoral fins and tubercles on the head.
It is unclear how long the whale has been floating in the waters and whether the great white shark feasted on the mammal.
But the images and video show the whale’s mangled carcass, indicating that a feeding frenzy may have occurred, which could explain why the shark was spotted in the first place.
Twenty-three humpback whales have been found between Massachusetts and Virginia; two sperm whales in Florida and off North Carolina; two North Atlantic right whales in North Carolina and Virginia.
In addition, a sei whale in North Carolina, eight minke whales between Maine and New York and a fin whale in Virginia, according to NOAA.
A close up of the humpback whale which appears to have been mutilated by a feeding frenzy which appears to have taken place by a mob of sharks
Another angle of the 47ft humpback whale that was found along the shore in Shinnecock Inlet which borders South Hampton and Hampton Bays. Rob DiGiovanni, executive director and chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told DailyMail.com NOAA Fisheries has reported an unusual mortality rate that’s been going on for six or seven years and that’s what we’re seeing now’
The dead whale is transported off Shinnecock Inlet. The whale is so massive it took two boats to help it
The two boats in the waters of Shinnecock Inlet are heading for the humpback whale which was discovered by local researchers this week. The photo shows an aerial view of the site taken by drone footage. There were 37 dead who washed up along the East Coast
A photo of the dead whale floating in the waters along the Hamptons coast
An image of the great white shark that was spotted near the humpback whale that was found dead near the waters off Wainscott on Wednesday
Since 2016, NOAA Fisheries has been investigating three concurrent unusual mortality events (UMEs) for large whales in the North Atlantic. Data from these surveys can be viewed on their website.
The organization also held a press conference on recent strandings of humpback whales and other whales along the East Coast, including New York and New Jersey.
NOAA marine mammal experts provided the latest information on the strandings, ongoing unusual mortality events and their next steps.
Experts from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management were also on hand to discuss offshore wind energy as a possible contributing factor.
“We have no evidence linking dead whales to wind farms as the cause of their deaths,” DiGiovanni said.
