Dead whale is the 7th to wash up recently in NJ. What an early investigation found
The necropsy of a dead humpback whale that washed up at the Jersey Shore is offering a concerned community early clues as to why the marine mammal might have died.
The young female, weighing about 12 tons and stretching 32 feet long, was found along the shores of Brigantine, which is next to Atlantic City, on Jan. 12, according to the local non-profit Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
It is the seventh dead whale to wash up in New Jersey and neighboring New York in just over a month, prompting speculation about offshore wind activities and calls for a federal investigation, the Associated Press reported.
The humpback whale discovered in Brigantine was likely hit by a boat and died from blunt trauma injuries, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center wrote Jan. 15 on Facebook while announcing preliminary findings of the necropsy.
Injuries and hemorrhaging were found on the whale’s head, thoracic region, right side, and on one of its flippers, according to the center.
“Although there has been speculation about whether these whale deaths are linked to wind energy development, at this point no whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activities,” the organization’s Facebook post said. “We will continue to gather data and go where the science leads us.”
There has been an unusual number of humpback whale deaths along the Atlantic Coast, spanning from Maine down to Florida, since January 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Out of the 176 humpback whale deaths, about 40% have “had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement,” NOAA said.
The results of the necropsy performed on the whale that washed ashore in Brigantine will be confirmed through laboratory testing in the upcoming weeks, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
It was described as being in a healthy condition prior to its death and had a stomach full of fish, the organization said.
The center cautioned boaters to watch out for whales, adding that there’s currently several large ones off the coast in New Jersey looking to feed on small fish.
In regards to the team that conducted the necropsy on the humpback whale, the center said “like the community that has been expressing concerns about recent whale deaths, they share in sadness over the loss of these beautiful animals.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2023 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Dead whale is the 7th to wash up recently in NJ. What an early investigation found."
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