SANDY HOOK - A dead humpback whale that has been adrift for a number of days has finally come ashore at Sandy Hook.

Bob Schoelkopf, executive director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said the approximately 25-foot whale washed up just south of Gunnison Beach on Tuesday night.

Gunnison Beach is known for being a nude beach at Gateway National Recreation Area, or Sandy Hook. The carcass was buried in the sand about 500 yards south of where the nude beach starts.

On Wednesday afternoon, some parts of the whale could still be seen in the sand. The mound where it was buried was partially covered with flies. A vulture could be seen waiting patiently nearby. See the burial mound in the above video.

The center's staff, which coordinates with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, is trying to determine the cause of death.

Word of a dead humpback whale drifting off the coast here spread through the local fishing pipeline this weekend.

Captain Kris Black of the Fish Stix charter boat informed the Press that he sighted a deceased whale two miles off the coast of Long Branch on Sunday.

On Monday, what most likely was the same whale was spotted by fishermen between Monmouth Beach and Sandy Hook, north of where Black first saw it. See the below video of the whale as it drifted off the coast.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which is investigating an active humpback whale unusual mortality event along the Atlantic Coast, was notified of the whale.

Since 2016, 100 humpback whale mortalities have been reported, not including this one. About half of those whales had a necropsy performed and 50 percent of them had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement.

This recent humpback is the first humpback death reported on the New Jersey coast this year, said Allison Ferreira, a spokesperson for NOAA.

There have been eight so far on the entire Atlantic Coast for 2019, two of which were found in New York. So far, it's fewer humpbacks than last year, when 25 mortalities were confirmed.

It's not the first dead whale at the Jersey Shore this summer, though. A juvenile minke whale died after getting trapped in Sandy Hook Bay in June.

About humpback whales

Humpback whales are thought to live 80 to 90 years. They can reach 60 feet in length and weigh up to 40 tons. They eat 3,000 pounds of food per day. They're found throughout the world, though there exist distinct populations tied to breeding grounds.

Before a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1985, all populations of humpback whales were greatly reduced, some by more than 95 percent.

The species is increasing in abundance in much of its range but faces threats from entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, vessel-based harassment, underwater noise and habitat impacts.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.