Officials say a humpback whale died after washing ashore at Lido Beach early Monday.
According to officials, the whale was an adult male about 35 feet long.
Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin says this is the first time in four years that a whale washed up onto the beach.
"This is a sad day down on the South Shore, this is something you don't want to see," Clavin says.
The town supervisor says a team of marine biologists will perform a necropsy on the whale to determine how it died.
The town put up a fence around the whale so it would remain undisturbed.
Once the marine biologists finish the necropsy, the whale will be buried somewhere on the beach.