A severely decomposed humpback whale was discovered washed up at Ditch Plain in Montauk Friday morning, and south winds were funneling the odor landward, tainting the entire neighborhood at the Montauk Shores Condominiums.
Corey Senese, who owns and operates Corey's Wave surf school, was the first to spot the beast as he filmed his daily surf report for his Instagram feed, @coreyswave. "Oh my God, it's a fucking dead whale!" he said as panned to his discovery. "And it stinks! Oh my God. This is crazy."
In a phone call a few hours later, he said it was uncommon for him to curse on his surf report (he has a 6-year-old), but justified it by saying, "A dead whale is the most unique stinkiest stinks you could smell."
One thing the whale is not affecting yet is the surf, though Mr. Senese guessed its odor was attracting other large fish.
"There's a strong possibility that all the large fish in the area are aware that something's happening. There's a higher than usual chance that we'll have a few 10-to-12-foot sharks close by and hungry," he said.
Though that wouldn't deter his tribe if the surf was good, which, today, it is not. "Even if it was only good in front of that whale, you could bet that surfers would be out in it anyway."
East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys said the town had been coordinating with various agencies to develop a removal plan. "It's a very difficult spot for accessibility," he said. "Burying is not an option." It's also very rocky, however, so towing the whale out to sea is also not possible. "It will likely be a land-based removal."
Josi Friedrich, a photographer and surfer, was immediately interested. "It's very surreal, sad, and awe-inspiring at the same time," she texted. "It's rare we get to see these animals up close, and though the circumstances are unfortunate, it serves as a reminder of what a beautiful place we live in, and of the wildlife that surrounds us."
After viewing Mr. Senese's post, she packed up her camera gear and headed out to see the whale in person and take photos.
"It's devastating to see such a beautiful beast washed up there at Ditch," Idoline Duke wrote in a text. "It may very well have met its demise from natural causes, but it's not a terrible thing for surfers and others to have to take a pause from their fun and contemplate the costs of all that we are doing to our oceans."
Rob DiGiovanni, the executive director and chief scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, who is working with Councilman Lys and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on the disposal plan, said that based only on photos, it looks as though the whale is 40 feet long, which would make it a sub-adult or adult. It looks like it has been floating for a while and had been "scavenged," he said.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been tracking elevated humpback whale mortalities since 2016, of the 129 whales examined as of last summer, "about 45 percent had evidence of human interaction, either vessel strike or entanglement."
The cause of death of the Ditch whale could be determined ultimately by a necropsy.
This may not be the last whale to wash up this summer. Councilman Lys added that another whale is known to be drifting about 20 miles east of Block Island.
