Towing a 70,000-pound sperm whale carcass to open waters off Venice Beach

The death of a massive sperm whale brought hundreds to the beach to see the marvel in person.

Measuring 44-feet long and weighing a gargantuan 70,000 pounds. A male sperm whale took its final breath off the Venice coastline.

Experts say the whale might have been sick, and that’s why it beached itself and eventually died on shore.

A yellow tow boat has taken the carcass away and will drop the whale off about 15 miles offshore. The sand all around the whale was dug up to simplify pulling the animal out. The teams also waited until it was high tide.

Crews started the process around 2 p.m. but had to stop as the whale’s corpse became stuck in the sand.

Scientists and onlookers gathered around, watching the whale’s remains get towed out to sea.

• RELATED: FWC: Beached sperm whale confirmed dead after being found offshore in Venice

Crews finished the necropsy, or animal autopsy, on Tuesday morning.

Law enforcement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission escorted the boats taking the whale out to sea. They’re also asking that other boaters not follow them and the remains of the whale.

After the gut punch on Sunday, a tireless but unsuccessful fight to save the animal, Mote Marine Lab’s stranding investigations manager called Tuesday a relief.

“That was a really hard thing for all of us to have to deal with. We tried tremendously hard to end the animal’s suffering,” said Gretchen Lovewell, the Mote Marine Lab stranding investigations manager. “Now we’re sort of wrapping it up. We’re all exhausted. It’s been a long, hard few days, but we also have an amazing, amazing team out here.”

Experts said from the start it could be months before they have results back from the necropsy. When those results come in it should explain what happened to the animal, if it was sick and why it was skinny.

Nevertheless, the death was not in vain. Sperm whales are endangered, and scientists will learn much about the endangered animal from this opportunity.