Preliminary findings released Friday by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society found that a whale that washed ashore on Field 5 at Robert Moses State Park suffered hemorrhaging consistent with blunt force trauma.

The whale was discovered by a state park patrol around 6:45 a.m. Officials say it washed up overnight, as the last patrol was done Thursday evening.

A necropsy was performed by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society Friday afternoon, which also showed that the whale had scarring from a previous entanglement.

Experts say the whale is a 28-foot male juvenile humpback whale. It is the ninth whale that has washed up on a beach in the tri-state area so far this year.

Biologists say this is a problem that has been happening for years up and down the East Coast.

"There is an unusual mortality event going on right now for humpback whale and minke whales and North Atlantic right whales from Maine through Florida, so we have seen an elevated number of these stranding since 2016," says Allison DePerte, of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

DePerte says they have documented human interaction as a cause of death for humpback whales, including vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear and marine debris issues.

The results that have been released were just preliminary, and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society says a full necropsy will still be performed.

The whale's body will be buried on the beach.