25-foot humpback whale washes ashore in the Rockaways

THE ROCKAWAYS, Queens (WABC) -- A dead whale washed up on the beach in Queens early Tuesday.

A spokesperson with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) said the 25- to 30-foot humpback whale washed ashore at 117th Street in the Rockaways around 7 a.m.

The United States Coast Guard reported the whale as floating nine miles offshore Monday evening.

AMCS is in communication with New York City Sanitation and the Office of Emergency Management to determine a plan to assess the whale and perform a necropsy on site.

Because of the weather and high tide coming in during the afternoon, AMCS will go out during the next low tide cycle either late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Until the team is able to get on the site, they will not have any information as to a potential cause of death. When they do arrive, they will take initial measurements, photo documentation, and collect samples for genetic material.