A whale carcass was found floating in the middle of a major New York City-area port that’s one of the busiest in the country.
The dead whale bobbed in the Newark Bay throughout Thursday afternoon while authorities worked to haul it onto land.
Its exact species and size have not been confirmed.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said they are working in tandem with federal and state officials to recover the massive corpse.
The center said it will share more details about the whale, including its likely cause of death, after a necropsy is performed.
The Newark Bay is just east of the Newark Liberty International Airport.
It is also the base for the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest shipping container facility in the tri-state area and one of the busiest ports in the US.
Several dead whales have washed up in the waters surrounding the Big Apple over the last few years.
The New York Bight, the coastal area between the city, Long Island and the Jersey shore, had 10 whale fatalities in the last year alone, according to Gothamist.
In late March, a gargantuan 40-foot Sei whale carcass washed ashore on Rockaway Beach. Scientists later determined it was likely killed in a collision with a boat.