WASHINGTON — A humpback whale that washed up in the Chesapeake Bay in Portsmouth, Va., might have been injured by a ship propeller, according to an official with the Virginia Aquarium.

“We are waiting on histopathology results to come back from the lab to determine the exact cause of death, but an initial exam showed wounds consistent with a strike by a large propeller,” said the aquarium’s Matthew Klepeisz.

The whale was pulled onto Craney Island after drivers spotted it Thursday near the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, according to WVEC-TV in Hampton.

Heavy equipment was needed to remove its remains, which were estimated to weigh 10 tons.

Officials told WVEC that the whale, a young male, might have been following schools of bait fish and swum into a shipping channel.

It’s unknown how long the whale had been dead.