Dead whale removed from beach

Authorities yesterday cut up and removed a dead whale that washed up at Island Beach State Park in Ocean County on Saturday.

The 60-foot fin whale, which had been dead and drifting in the ocean for several days, came ashore on a beach about six miles from the park's main gate, officials said.

The animal had gotten caught in some fishing gear, but the cause of death was undetermined. Officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Atlantic County said the whale had shark bites on its body but they believed those bites were inflicted after the animal died.

Jay Pagel, senior field technician with the stranding center, said workers cut up the 50-ton animal into "more manageable pieces," which were hauled away.

Workers used flensing knives - "very sharp" two-foot blades attached to four-foot handles - to break up the animal, which witnesses said was decomposing and stank.