A live whale washed up in the New York beach community of Breezy Point, which was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.
The whale was reported to have washed up at around 10:40 a.m. Volunteer firefighters from the Point Breeze Fire Department showed up to try to comfort the creature which is about 40-feet long. They hooked up a generator to a hose and are continuing to keep water on the creature which is lying on the shore by Jamaica Bay.
The whale is likely sick. Marine biologists said it appeared to be emaciated and may have been sick for a long time. Whales that beach themselves are often sick or dying.
Firefighters, police and members of the Riverheard Foundation are on the scene trying to save the whale, but the scene doesn't look good.
"When large whales strand, it's very difficult," Mendy Garron from the National Marine Fisheries Service told the New York Times.
"Their body physiology is so different from even smaller animals that the minute they get on the beach they're being compromised because their internal organs are being crushed by their weight," Garron added.
Many in Breezy Point are rooting for the creature as a sign of hope after their neighborhood was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. Over 100 homes burned to the ground when a fire broke out during the storm and several others were swept off their foundation or collapsed as every home in the neighborhood was flooded by a strong storm surge.
Ed Manley came from Florida after the storm to help the neighborhood out. He's been in the neighborhood ever since and was even helping the washed up creature as the fire department tried to get its pump started.
"They couldn't get the pump going so I was using a bucket to keep her nice and wet," Manley told the Times.
Marine biologists that arrived on the scene said they likely won't be able to save the animal.
"Probably we'll let nature take its turn with this animal," Kim Durham, rescue coordinator with the Riverhead Foundation told Newsday."Picking it up . . .would be inhumane at this point" as it would be painful for the animal.
"We've been through so much devastation here, we just wanted to save something. We wanted to save that whale,"Breezy Point resident Lou Bassolino, who found the whale during the morning and tried to help it by pouring water on it, told Newsday.
Here is a video of the whale that washed up:
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