A massive 35-foot-long male humpback whale washed up on the shore of a Long Island beach early Monday morning.
The whale was found around 6:30 a.m. Monday at Lido Beach West Town Park, located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County police said.
By the time crews arrived, the whale was dead, Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin told News 12.
While beached whales are common enough — the Jersey Shore has seen seven in about a month — the town of Hempstead hasn’t seen one in several years, according to Clavin.
“This is by far the largest,” he noted. “The crews that have been here for almost two decades have never seen a whale this size.”
Crews moved the ginormous creature further up the shore, Clavin said.
“We had to move the whale to higher ground because of the high tide,” Clavin noted.
He later added: “It’s 35-feet-long. Just pulling it up on the shore, we had to bring in a heavy crane. And the wires were snapping because of the tonage it was required to really bring it to higher ground.”
Meanwhile, locals flocked to the beach on the warm winter day to gawk at the giant creature.
“You don’t see something like this in your lifetime, I understand that — but it’s also a really sad day here,” Clavin said.
“This whale died, and unfortunately you’re going to have people coming here to take a look at it.”
The town of Hempstead plans to fence off the whale so officials can quickly perform a necropsy.
The necropsy is expected to be performed by federal authorities Tuesday to determine the cause of the animal’s death.
The whale’s eventual burial will require the coordination of several groups, including the Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Atlantic Marine Conversation Society was on the scene, according to News 12, but did not return a request for comment from The Post. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also could not be reached for comment.
