
© National Park ServiceFestus, a humpback whale monitored in Southeast Alaska for 44 years, is hauled Sunday, June 26, 2016, by two National Park Service vessels after being discovered dead in the waters off Point Carolus.
An initial identification suggests that a humpback whale documented for 44 years in Southeast Alaska has died, according to the National Park Service.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Superintendent Philip Hooge
announced the whale's death Monday. The humpback, nicknamed Festus, was found floating in the waters off Point Carolus a day earlier, he said.
A charter vessel operator called the National Marine Fisheries Service about the floating whale around 10:20 a.m. Monday. Glacier Bay staff located and towed Festus to shore. Veterinarians are set to conduct a necropsy on Tuesday, according to the Park Service.
"More information on the cause of death and the condition of the whale are expected to be available later this week, after the veterinary examination," Hooge said.