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Juvenile humpback whale washes ashore dead in Delaware

Scientists are trying to determine what killed the juvenile female humpback whale that washed ashore over the weekend in Delaware.

A fisherman casts his line on the Herring point beach in the Cape Henlopen State Park. (Tim Shaffer / File photo)
A fisherman casts his line on the Herring point beach in the Cape Henlopen State Park. (Tim Shaffer / File photo)Read moreFor the Daily News / Tim Shaffer
    by Associated Press, The Associated Press
    Published 

LEWES, Del. (AP) — Scientists are trying to determine what killed the juvenile female humpback whale that washed ashore over the weekend in Delaware.

Suzanne Thurman with the Marine Education, Rehabilitation and Research Institute tells news outlets the whale is the sixth to wash ashore in Delaware since 2016. The whale was first spotted in Cape May, New Jersey, on Saturday, before it washed ashore at Cape Henlopen State Park on Sunday.

Thurman says the 36-foot-long (11-meter-long) whale was hit by a boat and scavenged by sharks. It's unclear whether the former happened before or after she died. Thurman says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said humpback whales as dying at an unusual rate on the East Coast.

The whale was hauled to higher ground on Monday, and a preliminary necropsy was conducted.