Officials with Cape Lookout National Seashore say a 31-foot female humpback whale was found dead on the beach just south of the ferry landing on North Core Banks on December 28.
A NC Marine Mammal Stranding Network team arrived the next day to inspect the whale and put together a stranding report for their files.
These reports track the whale's species and report on any necropsy results.
The team also helped collect one of the whale's front flippers and a 4-foot-long section of baleen from the whale's mouth to be processed and eventually used in an exhibit at the Harkers Island Visitor Center.
The flipper alone weighed more than 300 pounds.
The whale was left on the beach to decay naturally and officials say since it is low on the beach, within reach of the tides, the ocean could naturally bury it in the sand. The ocean could also reclaim it and float it to another location or a different beach.
