CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. (AP) — The National Park Service says scientists are trying to determine the cause of death of an endangered whale calf that was found stranded on a beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The young whale is considered to be “one of the rarest marine mammals” on earth, according to NPS.
Biologists performed a necropsy on the North Atlantic right whale calf and took DNA samples Saturday.
NPS at Cape Lookout National Seashore posted news of the whale’s death on its Facebook page.
Right whales are critically endangered. The park service says only about 360 of the animals are still alive and about five or six calves are born each year.