Pilot whale washes ashore in Rockport (Massachusetts, USA)

James Niedzinski/Gloucester Daily Times. A closer view of the pilot whale that washed up at Long Beach on Tuesday morning.

December 19, 2012 (James Niedzinski). ROCKPORT — The shores of Long Beach are largely void of people this time of year, but a second dead whale has now washed up along the town’s shoreline.

A small pilot whale, approximately 10 to 15 feet, was reported to the Rockport Police Department at 9:17 on Tuesday morning, with police officials quickly notifying the New England Aquarium as well. A volunteer staff member of the aquarium was sent out Tuesday to photograph the whale.

The whale washed out to sea later in the afternoon, said Rockport Public Works Director Joe Parisi, who said it could easily wash back in on either the Rockport or Gloucester side of the beach.

The first response by the Rockport DPW was to let nature take its course, according to DPW employee Chuck Osmond.

“Right now we’re just going to wait and see,” he said while leaving the beach around 11 a.m.

Tuesday, the whale’s body shifted back and forth in the tide, making it almost seem alive.

The incident marks the second time in three months that a dead whale has washed onto Rockport’s beaches. A much larger fin whale washed up onto a beachfront on Penzance Road on Oct. 20 after being reported near Boston Harbor on Oct. 8.

The pilot whale may have also floated from the same area. Tony LaCasse, a spokesmen for the New England Aquarium, said a pilot whale carcass was reported near the town of Hull during the week of Thanksgiving.

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