Dead Whale Washes Up On Jersey Shore Beach

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A dead whale has washed up on the beach in the Chadwick Beach section of Toms River Wednesday, according to a report.

NJ.com reported the whale is about 30 feet long. What species of whale is unknown, the report said.

It is the third instance of a dead whale washing up in New Jersey this year. A humpback whale died in the Delaware River in March, according to NJ.com. And a baby humpback whale washed up on Long Beach Island in January, according to a report by Signs of the Times.

There have been at least four humpback whale deaths in the last year in Delaware, according to a report by Delawareonline.com, as well as four in Virginia and one on Long Island, that report said.

The Asbury Park Press reported it appears the whale, which was 43 feet long, died as the result of being hit by a ship, according to staff from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine. The whale had been partially eaten by sharks and was deteriorating, the report said.

Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, told the Asbury Park Press the whale may be the same one seen floating near New York Harbor by a cruise ship. He said the whale may be a sei whale, which is an endangered species.

The number of humpback deaths in the last year has results in the declaration of an unusual mortality event by the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to Delawareonline.

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