David Schofield, with NOAA's Marine Mammal Response Network, says the carcass will be removed from the beach and taken to Hawaii Pacific University. Tissue will be taken in an effort to determine why the baby whale died.
KHON-TV reported that the whale died shortly before 9 p.m. Monday. A fisherman found it alive but in distress late in the afternoon. Schofield says the baby whale was stranded due to being separated from its mother. He says the calf was in poor shape when found.
Schofield says this is the time of year in which humpback whales are giving birth. He says each year four or five newborns wash up on beaches.
