A deceased humpback whale stranded on the shore in Long Island’s Long Beach, and a massive response by government and conservation agencies was underway Monday as officials investigated the animal’s death.

Jupiter resident Mike Lee was plying the azure waters off the coast of Palm Beach County looking for bait last month when he found something so much bigger. A humpback whale cruised incognito alongside his vessel until its slick black body shot out of the ocean like a rocket before belly flopping in a spectacular breach in waters so close to the shore you can see fuzzy outlines of beachgoers and umbrellas in the photo Lee took.

"We can confirm that the whale seen off Sussex was indeed a humpback whale", the spokeswoman said. "By breaching out of the water it gave us a fantastic glimpse of it's long, whit