LEWES, Del.- A boat strike killed a young, female humpback whale that washed ashore at Cape Henlopen State Park over the weekend.

According to the MERR Institute, blunt force trauma associated with the vessel strike was the whale's cause of death. MERR Institute Executive Director Suzanne Thurman says a vessel hit the whale and dislodged her cervical vertebrae (neck), as well as breaking several of them. Thurman says the whale's neck was fractured too.

The whale's cause of death was confirmed after a necropsy on Monday.

After samples were taken from the whale, she was buried at the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park.

This is the sixth whale that's washed ashore in Delaware since 2016, according to the MERR Institute.