Marine experts are still working to determine the cause of death of a minke whale that recently washed up on the shores of Long Island.

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society says the 24-foot-long female whale was very decomposed when it was found Saturday at Westhampton Beach.

They tell News 12 it was the eighth whale of that size that has washed ashore near the area in 2023.

Dr. Robert DioGiovanni Jr, of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, says the whale could have originated from the same New York Bight region where other whales have suffered from infectious disease. The region runs along the East Coast starting in Cape May through New Jersey and eventually to Montauk Point.

"It did seem to have a lot of the characteristics that we're seeing in the infectious disease, so we have sent out tissues to the pathologist, and we'll see how they come back, if they confirm what we suspect out there, says DiGiovanni Jr.

He says the causes of death are similar to what they have been seeing for the last four or five years.

"Thirty years ago, we would get one whale stranding every year or every couple of years and now we're seeing a definite change," DiGiovanni Jr. says.

He says they have seen no connection to offshore wind turbines causing the number of deaths to whales.