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Members of the Outer Banks Marine Mammal Stranding Network responded to a dead humpback whale located in the surf zone in Corolla, which was reported Thursday. These first responders record basic information about the animal and take scientific photos, according to the initial report from officials issued Friday.

The female juvenile humpback whale washed up just north of Shad Street.

The necropsy was performed on the beach north of Shad Street in Corolla by N.C. Aquariums personnel and marine mammals stranding specialists Marina Doshkov, Vicky Thayer and Jill Sullivan along with several volunteers. Also assisting was Karen Clark from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and personnel from the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team.

Currituck County Public Works furnished an excavator and operator who first assisted in the necropsy by moving the whale from the swash up to dry sand and later buried the animal in place up high on the beach berm.

Several samples and even a few cervical vertebrae were taken to help scientists determine the cause of death, stated an update issued Monday.

“It was a juvenile female humpback whale with most organs heavily decomposed,” Doshkov said Monday. “The team found three fractured cervical vertebrae from the ‘neck’ region with associated hemorrhaging at the site suggestive of blunt force trauma.”

Additionally, healed fishery interaction scars from a previous entanglement were found, Doshkov added.

The juvenile humpback whale was 33-feet, 7 inches long and weighed roughly 60,000 pounds.

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