Massive Finback Whale Beached in New York City

Police and firefighters immediately began carefully spraying it with water to keep it alive until experts could take over.

But Mendy Garron, a regional specialist for the federal NOAA Fisheries service, told AFP the sea mammal was "really emaciated, not a good body condition at all." It was "not moving a lot," she added, saying that this assessment meant the whale was unlikely to get back to sea. Garron said rescue efforts were hampered by the incoming tide.

"There are now a few feet of water surrounding the animal," Garron said. "Responders don't have direct access to it." Garron said rescue workers will have to wait out the tide cycle.

She had earlier explained that the experts would decide what to do after assessing the animal's health. But she said the best course of action is often to euthanize a beached whale as "in many of these cases, when an animal of this size strands, they are usually compromised in some form or another."

Garron noted that, on average each year, "we've got a couple of large whale species strandings in NY. Occasionally, they are alive." The sea mammals beach themselves for different reasons.

It could be "due to natural causes, old age or disease, and sometimes, for human cause instances, like a boat strike or fishing interaction," she explained.