A massive whale carcass about the size of a city bus washed up on a Queens beach Thursday, jaw-dropping photos show.
The 40-foot-long Sei whale was discovered stranded on Rockaway Beach near Beach 95th Street in the morning after an aerial survey team first spotted it floating offshore 15 miles south of Long Island Wednesday, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and NOAA Fisheries New England/Mid-Atlantic are working with the conservation society to secure and monitor the large marine mammal, authorities said.
The team will coordinate plans to document the whale and conduct an autopsy on Friday.
Wild photos captured the ginormous Sei whale sprawled out across the sand near the water’s edge.
“The best way to assist these animals, and keep them and yourself safe, is by calling trained responders and maintaining a 150-foot distance,” the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society wrote in a statement.
“It is important to remember that whales in the surf are still dangerous, even when deceased.”
Sei whales are classified as endangered because their population was greatly reduced by commercial whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries, according to NOAA.
They prefer temperate waters and can be found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
