Weird News: A Beached Whale Sob Story

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from the past seven days.

Sad End For Mom, Baby Whales

he two rare True's beaked whales found dead one day apart on neighboring beaches in the Town of Southampton were likely mother and calf, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation concluded in its findings.

In a report released on Friday, the organization that responded to the strandings of the rare species said the male calf, found dead on a Bridgehampton beach on Monday, died two to three days before the lactating adult female, which washed up on a Southampton Village beach on Sunday. Though the female washed up first, she is believed to have been seen thrashing about on Flying Point Beach earlier on last Sunday morning, before being found dead further west.

Both were in poor condition, and the calf was malnourished. Biologists performed necropsies on both at the Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center.

Someone Needs Anatomy Lessons

A fight outside of Gunther’s Tap Room in Northport early Christmas morning ended with an arrest when a man allegedly lunged at two others with a box cutter.

According to police, while on duty Dec. 25 just after midnight, an officer saw three men in a physical altercation outside of Gunther’s Tap Room. When the officer got out of his vehicle, one of the men yelled to him, “He has a knife,” the officer said in his report.

Police said that two of the men in the struggle were attempting to remove a box cutter from the third subject, who was said to be intoxicated.

Officials said that their investigation revealed that Lloyd Rustia was drunk when he began making inappropriate comments while the three men were outside of the bar, smoking cigarettes. When asked to stop speaking in such a way, Rustia allegedly said, “Your friend won't realize what he said after I give him a carotid artery."

But we're pretty sure he already had one.