STOCK ISLAND, Fla. – The carcass of a 47-foot sperm whale that is believed to have died Tuesday was pulled from the water in Stock Island Wednesday morning.
Casey Taylor, the general manager at Robbie’s Boat Yard, told Local 10 News the whale was removed from the water around 3 a.m.
Recommended Videos
A team of biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Marine Mammal Responder unit responded to the incident and will perform a necropsy on the whale.
Taylor said the carcass will then be placed back in the water and towed offshore “for nature to take its course.”
A spokesperson from the FWC confirmed that the whale was a male.
According to NOAA, a commercial fisherman first noticed that there was a whale near shore Tuesday, around 10 a.m. near Mud Key, which is located about 10 miles northeast of Key West.
The whale was towed to Stock Island to be removed from the water.
According to NOAA officials, the whale appeared to be very thin.
They said these animals are typically found in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic Ocean, but in deep water and no where near shore.
If they are close to shore, it typically means that the whale could be ill, they said.
A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.