Dead whale discovered on Delray Beach

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - A dead whale was discovered Thursday morning on Delray Beach at 240 South Ocean Boulevard.

What beach visitors found shocked them.

That's insane, not something we'd expect to see on vacation," said Geri Pieschel.

"I came walking up this way, by the time I got here, there was two guys trying to hack off the tail of it," John Dellarocca.

The gruesome sight made Dellarocca's stomach turn. "I asked the guy why and he says he was gonna take it home and he wanted to make soup of it, with the tail."

Paula Powers has seen animals wash ashore before, but this was too much for her to comprehend. “I think that's horrible to cut a poor animal's tail off even after it's dead, it's still abuse, they should've left it alone."

Florida wildlife officers refused comment, other than to say the investigation is ongoing.

But Dellarocca's said the man suspected of trying to hack off the tail may have been confused. "He didn't know he wasn't allowed to do it. No he was naive, he didn't know, he thought it was dead anyway."