The town of Rockport has decided to bury the remains of a dead finback whale after Hurricane Sandy helped it drift farther down the coast instead of sending the carcass out to sea.

Now that the 55-foot finback has washed up on Cape Hedge Beach, about a mile from its last resting spot, it is more accessible for heavy equipment, said Joe Parisi, director of Rockport’s Public Works Department. Earlier in the month, when the carcass had been beached near a tall bluff, town officials had said they would not attempt to remove it.