On Jan. 11, a female killer whale appeared on a beach 30 miles north of Daytona Beach in Palm Coast, Fl. After being spotted by the public early Wednesday morning, the killer whale was reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Region.

At its initial sighting, the killer whale, or orca was still alive. However, by the time an aid team arrived, the orca had passed away.

Despite posts of the orca from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office warning the public to steer clear of the area, crowds gathered in hopes of seeing the whale. This ultimately led to road closures in surrounding areas.

Currently, the whale is being transported to a lab where it will undergo a necropsy. While there are approximately 50,000 killer whales around the world, it is rare for them to emerge in the southeast region. The necropsy could take weeks or months and will determine why the whale isolated itself and came to FL.