The cause of death for a large finback whale that had beached itself at Breezy Point in Queens may have finally been determined. Tests have discovered that the finback whale had been suffering from malnutrition before it passed away.
Lesions were found on the whale's kidneys and stomach. Further tests are being conducted in order to pinpoint the precise cause of death, but for now, most believe the cause of death was natural. No visible wounds indicate that the whale had been struck by a ship or harmed by humans.
"It was clearly sick for a very long time," Robert DiGiovanni Jr., executive director of the Riverhead Foundation on Long Island, which is in charge of dealing with the dead finback.
The whale was found Wednesday, the day after Christmas, barely breathing and struggling for its life. The 60-foot whale should have weighed somewhere around 60 tons, according to Mr. DiGiovanni Jr., but is estimated to have had only half that mass when it came ashore. Eyewitness accounts and pictures reveal that the whale's spine could be seen underneath its thinly, tautly stretched skin.
The age of the whale has not been determined, although it could have been either young or very old based on its size. Finbacks can live up to 90 years, and are second to only the gargantuan blue whale in terms of whales lifespans.
Firefighters had hosed down the whale until high tide helped carry it away. The whale then washed up on shore Thursday dead, once again reminding onlookers in a community already ravaged by nature's recent Frankenstorm Sandy that nature is fragile, yet vicious.
Whatever remains of the whale after the necropsy and further studies are completed will be buried in the Breezy Point dunes.
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