People gather on the beach of the North Brigantine Natural Area on to see a dead humpback whale that washed up on the beach (Picture: Shutterstock)
The seventh dead whale in about a month has beached itself in the same region of the northeastern US.
A 20-foot-long humpback whale washed onto Jersey Shore in Brigantine, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
‘Due to the incoming tide and low light last night, staff returned at daybreak this morning to take photos,’ stated the center on Friday. ‘Plans are underway for a necropsy to be performed on the animal.’
It could take months to determine its cause of death, the center said.
It is the seventh dead whale to wash up on the beaches of New Jersey and New York in just over a month (Picture: Shutterstock)
Authorities said that a half dozen other whales have been discovered in the New Jersey-New York coastline in just over a month. A dead whale was found in Atlantic City on January 7, according to NJ Advance Media.
Five other whales were found last month. On December 23, a 30-foot female humpback turned up. On December 12, a female sperm whale was found in Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York. Two days earlier, a juvenile humpback whale was discovered in Strathmere, New Jersey. On December 6, another humpback was beached in Amagansett in Long Island, New York. And the day before that, a 12-foot sperm whale washed up onto Keansburg, New Jersey.
The string of beached whales has marine life activists worried that the deaths may be caused by off-short wind development.
‘This is bad news on top of bad news,’ Cindy Zipf, executive director of the nonprofit Clean Ocean Action, told NJ Advance Media of the latest beached whale.
The cause of death of the latest beached humpback whale has not yet been determined (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘This is devastating and shows even more urgency to our call to action for (President Joe) Biden and Governor Phil Murphy to call for a stop to all activity.
‘Don’t add any more projects and get a comprehensive investigation underway with experts and full transparency with oversight.’
The Brigantine whale was found a day after a killer whale washed ashore close to Jungle Hut Park in Palm Coast, Florida. It is believed to be the first orca to get beached and die in the southeast US.
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Seven whales have washed up on the New Jersey-New York coastline in just over a month.
