SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y.—Two dead humpback whales were spotted floating in the waters off New York this week, officials said, part of a troubling rise in whale deaths in the region.
Necropsies were being performed Friday to determine what killed the two whales that were first seen Wednesday, one off eastern Long Island and one in Raritan Bay between New Jersey and the New York City borough of Staten Island.
The Long Island whale was spotted Wednesday about five miles (eight kilometers) off Wainscott, New York, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez said.
Southampton town police reported Thursday that the whale had floated into Shinnecock Bay. Police and staffers from NOAA and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society worked to secure the animal to the beach front and then drag it onto the shore where the necropsy could be performed, Sgt. Eric Sickles said….