HONOLULU (KITV4) — Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries is responded to a dead humpback whale calf in the Hawaii Kai area of Oahu, Sunday afternoon.

Multiple calls were made about the dead whale at Wailupe Beach Park. Local surfers were first to spot the humpback whale calf.

Marine mammal response staff and partners worked for nearly four hours to remove the approximately 12-foot-long carcass. The animal was taken to the University of Hawaii’s research laboratory on the naval base for a necropsy.

“So this is a newborn whale that we’d expect to see in Hawaiian waters at this time of year. It’s unusual for us to have one that has expired that we have the opportunity to examine and try to find out what happened to it. Maybe, about once a year, we’re in a situation like this where we have a newborn calf to try and determine really what’s threatening the animals out there, what’s causing their mortality. This is really how we learn how to best protect them,” said R. Kristi West, director of the UH Health and Stranding Lab.