The carcass of a minke whale was found off Narragansett, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017.
© WJARThe carcass of a minke whale was found off Narragansett, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017.
Environmental officials are trying to remove a dead whale off the Narragansett coast.

The carcass of a minke whale was first spotted on Monday near Hazard Rock.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is waiting for the high surf brought on by Hurricane Gert to subside before officials try to retrieve the carcass.

The whale is floating within a fishing trap. Sarah Callan, assistant stranding coordinator at Mystic Aquarium, said DEM told her that it is a legal, stationary fishing trap.


"The whale doesn't appear to be entangled, although we haven't had eyes actually on the actual carcass out there," Callan said. "I've just seen photos, so we can't assume it's an entanglement or any sort of fisheries interaction. It may have just died and then the carcass floated into this one area."

In June, a humpback whale washed ashore at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown. Callan said removing the minke whale will be easier than the humpback whale -- and not just because the minke whale is smaller.

"It is a bit easier because it isn't washed up against the shoreline," Callan said. "We are working with the owner of the fish trap as well so he's going to be present for removing the carcass so the only logistics in that sense was getting in touch with him and making sure that he was present and we're working really closely with Rhode Island DEM and NOAA Fisheries to work out this case."

A necropsy will be performed once the animal is moved to shore.