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The Mystery Of Two Dead Minke Whales Found Along The Jersey Shore

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Two Whales Found Dead Within Two Days In NJ, NY Waters

Marine biologists are taking a closer look after the remains of a young minke whale washed ashore in New Jersey Friday — less than 24 hours after another dead whale was found floating off Staten Island.

On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted a 16- to 18-foot-long whale "floating in the Lower Bay/Raritan Bay area."

A tracking tag was planted on the carcass, which federal investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anticipate will land near Sandy Hook, NJ, within days. Once ashore, the deceased animal will be examined.

A 16- to 18-foot-long whale was spotted "floating in the Lower Bay/Raritan Bay area." facebook/amseasorg

Then around 6:30 a.M. On Friday, "a small, deceased whale" washed up near Trenton Avenue in Lavallette, NJ.

The ball of blubber "was transported to the [Lavallette] public works yard and has been secured for necropsy," according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, NJ.

Also a minke — the smallest of the baleen whale species — it was between 10 and 12 feet in length.

A dead minke whale seen in East Hampton, NY in September. Facebook/amseasorg

NOAA spokeswoman Andrea Gomez told The Post a probe into "unusual mortality events" involving the endangered minke whale began back in 2017, following a spike in deaths up and down the Atlantic from Maine to South Carolina.

A total of 27 whales were found dead in 2017.

NOAA defines "unusual mortality events" as "a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response."

Workers on a beach in Suffolk County, using a backhoe to remove a dead whale. Facebook/amseasorg

Since the NOAA investigation launched seven years ago, 26 whales have died in New York's waters, and 14 in New Jersey.

There were 8 whale strandings in 2024 in New York and New Jersey, Gomez said.

Investigators have yet to offer up any working theories on what could be behind the rash of deaths.

"We don't know yet if something is happening in the Atlantic that is causing all of these UMEs [unusual mortality events] for different species, which is why the work of our stranding networks and researchers is so important," according to NOAA's website.


Dead Minke Whale Washes Up At Jersey Shore; 2nd Whale Still Floating Near Raritan Bay

A day after a dead minke whale was spotted floating in a bay between New Jersey and New York, a second minke whale washed up on a beach in Ocean County Friday morning, officials said.

A deceased minke whale about 10 to 12 feet long was found in Lavallette near the Trenton Avenue beach at around 6:30 a.M., the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

The carcass was moved to a public works yard while a necropsy team from the stranding center is assembled, officials said.

Another dead minke whale, estimated to be 16- to 18-feet long, was floating Thursday near the Raritan Bay and the Lower New York Bay, the stranding center said. It was seen again Friday morning.

On Thursday, officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation photographed the mammal and attached a tracking tag to monitor where it is drifting. The U.S. Coast Guard first spotted the whale.

The whale might wash up in the Sandy Hook area, officials said. Once it washes ashore, officials from multiple agencies will evaluate how it will be best be examined.

Minke whales are the smallest baleen whale in North American waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have a relatively small, dark body and can grow to 35 feet and 20,000 pounds.

Since January 2017, at least 140 minke whales have washed up deceased between Maine and South Carolina, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before Friday, 14 of the strandings over the last seven years took place in New Jersey. The Lavallette stranding is the first minke whale stranding of 2024 in New Jersey.

The exact cause of the whale deaths remains under investigation.

"Preliminary findings in several of the whales have shown evidence of human interactions or infectious diseases," the NOAA said. "These findings are not consistent across all of the whales examined, so more research is needed."

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.Com.

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