A dead humpback whale has washed ashore in Kitty Hawk near the Bennett Street beach access at milepost two in the Outer Banks.
Community members reported the whale to the Kitty Hawk Police Department Friday morning.
The deceased female juvenile humpback whale was 27.5 feet in length and weighed roughly 19,000 pounds.
There was no obvious cause of death, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. A necropsy was scheduled to take place on Saturday, but no details have been released.
The whale remained on the beach until the necropsy was completed with the police department and Town of Kitty Hawk asking the public to “not to touch or disturb the whale.”
While the plea to the public is normal in incidents of this nature, there are instances where community members have interfered with a whale carcass.
News surfaced in August that Donald J. Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., once learned a whale had washed ashore on Hyannis Port’s Squaw Island and allegedly used a chainsaw to cut off the whale’s head and drive it nearly five hours to his Massachusetts home. Kick Kennedy recently detailed the incident in a magazine interview and said the incident occurred more than three decades ago.
While there was an investigation after public outcry, authorities with the National Marine Fisheries Service have now closed the investigation into the incident with RFK Jr., according to multiple reports.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency enforces federal laws including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Humpback whale deaths are commonly attributed to medical issues, vessel strikes, underwater noise and net entanglements.
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Crystal Graham
