By Miranda Leitsinger, NBC News
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NEW YORK -- An emaciated 60-foot finback whale that washed up on a coastal community devastated by Superstorm Sandy has died, marine officials said Thursday.
The whale was found beached on Wednesday in Breezy Point, Queens, where more than 100 homes burned down and more than 2,000 were damaged during the Oct. 29 storm. It was carried out at high tide but washed ashore another time on Thursday, where marine officials said they found it dead, according to media reports.
?Biologists have confirmed that the whale has died,? Mendy Garron, a marine mammal rescue specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told Reuters. ?Plans are currently being developed for necropsy and disposal of the carcass."
PhotoBlog: Finback whale beached at Breezy Point
Finback whales are an endangered species. They are second in size only to the blue whale, and can reach up to 70 feet in length and weigh up to 70 tons. The whales migrate to equatorial waters in the fall and during winter, they mostly fast, surviving on their fat reserves. Winter is also when they mate, and calves are born one year later, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
It is one of the fastest large whales and can stay underwater for up to 50 minutes off of one breath.
Rob DiGiovanni, executive director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation told NBC New York on Wednesday that the whale was ?severely emaciated? and ?underweight. The outcome does not look good.?
Calls placed Thursday seeking comment to the foundation and NOAA were not immediately returned.
The whale was found on the bay side of the community, which is tucked in by the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay. With most homes rendered uninhabitable by the storm, many residents have had to move away and make daily trips to continue repairs.
Breezy Point, a private cooperative, was founded more than a century ago by Irish immigrants.
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