Another whale washed up on an N.J. beach. But death has ‘nothing to do with’ others, officials say.
© Andre Malok/nj.com/TNS
A dead humpback whale washed ashore at the L Street Beach in Seaside Park. The dead whale is one of at least 11 that have landed on beaches in New York or New Jersey since Dec. 5. Seaside Park. March 2, 2023
A badly decomposed pygmy whale washed ashore Friday off the coast of Ocean City, according to the Sea Isle News in Cape May County.
The death is unrelated to the highly publicized humpback whale and dolphin deaths that have gained recent attention from local lawmakers, officials said.
The whale found Friday had been dead for a long time and “has nothing to do with that,” Sheila Dean, executive director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, told the Sea Isle News.
Ocean City officials buried the whale in the beach at the direction of the stranding center, the outlet reported.
Because of the advanced level of decomposition, no testing will be done to determine the cause of death, Dean told the outlet.
At least 11 dead whales have washed ashore on beaches in New York or New Jersey since Dec. 5. It’s unclear how many whales have been reported floating out on the ocean in that span.
The deaths have caused concern; last month, crowds gathered on Point Pleasant Beach to rally for a work stoppage on offshore wind development following at least ten dead whales in the region. But Gov. Phil Murphy’s office told NJ Advance Media the state has no data linking the two.
“In other words, we don’t have the evidence,” the governor said. “The feds are taking the lead on this. We take this very seriously, obviously. But in the absence of evidence that this is the cause of this, we’re gonna continue to go on two tracks.”
A spokesperson for Murphy, a Democrat, said scientific experts with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the state’s Board of Public Utilities are in coordination with federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has studied the marine mammal deaths for several years.
Data released in January indicates the last two years, whale strandings in New Jersey have been at or just below the average, with seven whale strandings each year between 2002 and Jan. 7, 2023.
WATCH: N.J. Whale deaths are surreal beach funerals. How did they become political?
NJ Advance Media staff writers Anthony Attrino, Steven Rodas and Chris Sheldon contributed to this report.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
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