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NATIONAL BRIEFING / NORTH CAROLINA

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Times Wire Reports

A rare, 30-foot right whale had to be euthanized after it stranded itself on a remote North Carolina beach, officials said.

Employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service have started a necropsy to try to determine why the 2-year-old whale stranded. It died Thursday.

The whale was spotted by a pilot Monday. Rough weather hindered rescue efforts, but a veterinarian and others, ferried by a Coast Guard helicopter, reached the remote site Wednesday.

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North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species, and officials believe there are only about 350 to 400 left.

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