Topline
A 30-foot-long humpback whale was found stranded on a beach in Long Island, New York, after washing up overnight, according to local news outlets, making the dead whale at least the 10th to be discovered on Atlantic Ocean beaches in just a matter of weeks.
A Humpback whale (Megaptera Novaeangliae) is seen breeching out of the water in Stephens passage, … [+]
Key Facts
A male humpback whale washed ashore on Lido Beach in Nassau County at around 6:30 a.m. Monday morning and died shortly after, officials told local news station News 12.
The cause of death has not been determined—federal authorities will perform a necropsy on Tuesday—but whales have been stranded in similar incidents after being struck by a sea vessel.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center told ABC 7 that another humpback whale that washed up earlier this month about 150 miles away at a beach in Brigantine, New Jersey, had “blunt trauma injuries consistent with those from a vessel strike.”
In December, surfers and construction workers tried to save a stranded whale calf that washed ashore a beach in Rockaway, Queens, after being injured, though it ultimately died after showing signs of distress, a witness said (it is unclear what caused its injuries).
At least 10 whales have died after being stranded on beaches in New York and New Jersey in less than two months, according to ABC 7.
Key Background
Injuries from sea vessels and entanglements in fishing buoy lines pose a danger for whales, Karen Grimmer, a resource protection coordinator with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told Forbes in August. Grimmer said the animals face “a very high risk” as large mega-ships often travel through areas frequented by whales. A rise in the number of shipping vessels in areas whales travel, like off the coasts of New York, New Jersey and California, have made whales more vulnerable to strikes. The number of whales found in New York and New Jersey in recent weeks is unprecedented, environmental groups said earlier this month. Some groups have speculated the deaths are related to offshore wind energy development, but the Marine Mammal Stranding Center noted last week that no whale death has been linked to such activities, and a NOAA fisheries spokesperson said last month the increase in humpback whale deaths began before offshore wind activities in the Atlantic Ocean. No wind farms are up and running off the coast of New Jersey, but pre-construction work has begun, including underwater seabed mapping and turbine construction, according to Politico. The whale deaths have caused some New Jersey officials to call for a moratorium on offshore wind energy development until a link with whale fatalities can be ruled out.
Big Number
174. That’s how many humpback whales have been found stranded across 13 states in the U.S. since 2016, the NOAA said earlier this month. Only half were necropsied, and of those, 40% were found to have died because of vessel strikes or entanglements.
Further Reading
Huge Humpback Whale—And California Celebrity—Killed In Ship Strike Amid Concern Over Collisions (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2023/01/30/tenth-whale-dies-on-atlantic-ocean-beach-after-being-stranded-ashore/