Jupiter resident Mike Lee was plying the azure waters off the coast of Palm Beach County looking for bait last month when he found something so much bigger. A humpback whale cruised incognito alongside his vessel until its slick black body shot out of the ocean like a rocket before belly flopping in a spectacular breach in waters so close to the shore you can see fuzzy outlines of beachgoers and umbrellas in the photo Lee took.

A deceased humpback whale stranded on the shore in Long Island’s Long Beach, and a massive response by government and conservation agencies was underway Monday as officials investigated the animal’s death.

"We can confirm that the whale seen off Sussex was indeed a humpback whale", the spokeswoman said. "By breaching out of the water it gave us a fantastic glimpse of it's long, whit