New York ( CNN ) -- A 60-foot-long finback whale that washed ashore in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens and that was determined dead Thursday morning will be buried in the sand dunes , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . The whale could not be moved on Thursday because the National Park equipment that would ordinarily be used was `` destroyed by Hurricane Sandy , '' said NOAA spokeswoman Allison McHale . The plan now is to transport the carcass on Friday with the joint effort of the National Park Service and New York City Sanitation . Both agencies have reached out to the Army Corps of Engineers , which has the type of heavy equipment that needed , according to McHale . The National Park Service has agreed to let the whale be buried on the beach where it is currently located , up in the sand dunes where the high water line will prevent erosion , McHale said . `` The necropsy will then be conducted either tomorrow or Saturday , '' McHale said , `` depending on when the whale is moved . '' The whale was first discovered Wednesday morning on a beach in Breezy Point , a community still reeling from Superstorm Sandy , and biologists had been closely monitoring the status of the whale since its discovery . `` What we will do next is determine where the animal will remain , if we are able to bury it on the beach , or if it will need to be moved , '' Rob Digiovanni , executive director and senior biologist for the Riverhead Foundation , a Long Island-based marine research and preservation group , said earlier Thursday . `` That would be a discussion we need to have when we get there . Our plan is to do a necropsy on the beach to find out why it died . '' Disposal of the carcass remained a challenge . `` In the past they ( have ) been buried on the beach , disposed of in a landfill , or towed out to sea , '' said McHale . Late Wednesday , the whale was still alive but it was `` emaciated and in poor physical condition so there is nothing that can be done to save the whale , '' she said then . `` We thought it was dead when we arrived , but then it started moving , '' Nick Ecock of Point Breeze Volunteer Fire Department said Wednesday .
NEW : The 60-foot - long sperm whale was determined by experts to be dead . NEW : It washed ashore in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens . NEW : It showed signs of life at first after it was discovered by a lay - by . A necropsy performed on the beach is planned , a marine preservation expert said .