Biologists work to save NYC beached whale NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- A 30-foot whale is still alive but clinging to life after washing up on a beach in New York City Christmas morning, police said. The whale, believed to be a humpback, was first spotted at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday on a beach in the Queens neighborhood Breezy Point, The New York Times said. The mammal was "moving some of its flippers and its fluke and opening its mouth," said Mendy Garron, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service who coordinates marine mammal rescues. The motions can be signs of distress, Garron added. The prognosis for beached whales of that size is not good, biologists said. "When large whales strand, it's very difficult," she said. Their body physiology is so different from even smaller animals that the minute they get on the beach they're being compromised because their internal organs are being crushed by their weight.