Young endangered whale washes ashore in Rockport

ROCKPORT, Mass. -- Marine scientists are investigating the cause of death of a humpback whale that washed ashore in Rockport.

The deceased whale was discovered around 7:30 p.m. Monday night on Cape Hedge Beach.

According to officials from the New England Aquarium, the beached whale is a juvenile, approximately two years old and 30 feet long. Adult humpback whales can grow as long as 50 feet long.

Humpback whales are a common attraction by whale watchers for the ability to jump out of the water.

"These humpback whales are very well known to not only whale watchers, but to anybody who has really seen commercial marketing images of whales that are jumping out of the water or breaching," Tony LaCasse, of the New England Aquarium, said. "Humpback whales are the whales that most commonly do it, we often call them the acrobats of the whale world."

On Sunday night, a humpback whale was seen feeding in the area, and investigators are trying to determine if it is the same whale that washed ashore.

"At first I didn't believe it, because the animal was really healthy the day before, at least it appeared to be healthy," Claudio Corbelli, of the Whale Center of New England, said.

Humpback whales are an endangered species, and according to experts, there has been an unusually high number of dead humpbacks this year.

Scientists will perform a necropsy on the animal and send pieces of the whale to labs all over the world in an effort to figure out why this whale, as well as other whales that have washed ashore, died.

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