A dead whale washed up on Rockaway Beach in Queens Thursday morning.
The city Parks Department responded to the discovery near Beach 95th St. and roped off the fin whale, which quickly drew a crowd of onlookers to the beach.
The fin whale is the second-largest whale species on Earth. They weigh between 40 and 80 tons and range in length from 75 to 85 feet.
Barry Paddock / New York Daily News
The carcass of a fin whale washed ashore near Beach 95th St. on Rockaway Beach Thursday. (Barry Paddock / New York Daily News)
The Rockaway Times reported the last whale to wash up on the Rockaways was in May 2025, when the decomposing humpback whale showed up on the beach.
That whale washed up only about a block from where Thursday’s sea creature was found.
In that case, biologists from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society were called in to perform a necropsy
Any sightings of sick, injured or deceased whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles should be reported the NYS Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Hotline at (631) 369-9829.
Barry Paddock / New York Daily News
The carcass of a fin whale washed ashore near Beach 95th St. on Rockaway Beach Thursday. (Barry Paddock / New York Daily News)