The ninth dead whale to wash ashore on the New York-New Jersey coastline in recent months was reported Monday, officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center confirmed.
A crowd gathered as the whale floated about 100 yards offshore near Whiting Avenue Beach in Manasquan on Monday afternoon. As some onlookers stopped to take photos, police were seen cordoning off the area.
“We’re putting together a team with NOAA right now to respond,” Sheila Dean, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, told NJ Advance Media on Monday afternoon.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, not including this whale, the government agency has had 15 whales wash ashore in the Greater Atlantic Region since Dec. 1. Nine of those have washed up on the New York-New Jersey coastline since Dec. 5.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center, a non-profit, is authorized by the state and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries under a federal permit to rescue and rehabilitate marine mammals.
The center, as well as NOAA, have continued to state that offshore wind survey work in the area is not at fault for the whale deaths. Although some groups have called the series of strandings unprecedented, federal and state officials have yet to conclude that’s the case and continue to investigate the deaths.
Dean confirmed the dead marine mammal is a humpback whale. She noted that additional information including the size of the whale, the gender and the preliminary cause of death were not immediately available.
Manasquan Mayor Edward Donovan said that while the whale had not beached on land as of Monday afternoon, he advised residents to keep away from the area for safety reasons. By 5 p.m. the whale was closer to the sand and a bulldozer appeared.
“Stay as far back as you can, and behind the cordon,” Donovan said over the phone.
“It’s a shame,” added Donovan, noting he last saw a whale washed up dead years ago in Belmar. “I don’t know what is happening with all the whales (washing ashore) but they’re beautiful animals.”
While some towns have called for a pause on offshore wind pre-construction, Donovan said Manasquan has not followed suit.
“As soon as someone can convince me offshore wind work is responsible for any of the whale deaths I’ll more than happy sign onboard,” Donovan said.
Monday’s stranding came one day after a right whale washed up at Virginia Beach, marking the fourth in Virginia in 2023, a NOAA spokeswoman said.
Federal officials could not immediately provide additional information on reports of the whale washing up Monday near the New Jersey shoreline. Andrea Gomez, a NOAA spokeswoman, said the agency was in the process of gathering more information.
Since Dec. 5, six whales have washed up on beaches in New Jersey and three have washed up in New York. About two weeks ago, a humpback whale also washed ashore on Lido Beach in New York.
Mayors from 12 Jersey Shore towns recently called for a moratorium on wind development in a letter to the state’s congressional delegation.
“While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these projects may already be having on our environment,” wrote the mayors of Bay Head, Brigantine, Deal, Linwood, Long Beach Township, Mantoloking, Margate, North Wildwood, Point Pleasant Beach, Spring Lake, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood Crest.
Companies that have pre-planned for offshore wind turbines in and around New Jersey say accounting for whale migration has always been part of pre-construction work.
“We know several factors that may be driving these interactions,” NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Lauren Gaches said during a January teleconference with reporters. “As the humpback whale population has grown, their occurrence in the Atlantic has increased. These whales may be following their prey, which we’re hearing from our partners in the region are reportedly close to shore this winter.”
Gaches added that due to climate change whales may also be adapting by moving into new areas for food, which may lead them toward more people and vessels.
Offshore wind turbines have yet to be constructed in New Jersey, but plans for several projects have been ongoing for years.
Since January 2016, 181 dead stranded humpback whales were reported across 13 states, including 24 in New Jersey and 35 in New York. A ship strike or entanglement with fishing gear accounted for the deaths of 40% of the whales necropsied, NOAA previously said. About 87 whales were examined. It is not known how the others died.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Kevin Shea contributed to this report.
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