The second dead whale in two days. One of seven in the past month. State senator calls for a pause in offshore wind development. Governor says no way

By Oona Goodin-Smith, Philadelphia Inquirer

A young humpback whale, between 20 and 25 feet long, washed up on the beaches of Brigantine Island Thursday afternoon — the second whale found dead on the Jersey Shore in the last week, and one of seven discovered in New York and New Jersey in a little more than a month.

The whale in Brigantine was found upside-down on the north end of the island, on state-protected property around half a mile from the site of the former U.S. Coast Guard Station, according to a post on the municipality’s Facebook page.

New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife department, and the non-profit Marine Mammal Stranding Center responded to the scene, the post said. The state planned to bury the carcass, according to the post.

Related:
Lawmaker calls for suspension of offshore wind development
Offshore wind work will continue, despite whales, Gov. Murphy says
What’s Whacking Whales Off The New Jersey Coast?

It was not immediately clear how the whale had died, and that answer could take “several months” to determine — if at all, the center said in a statement Friday. Plans for a necropsy are under way, the center said, but due to the tide cycle and erosion, the area where the whale is located is hazardous to access. The center’s staff will continue to visit the site during low tide to take measurements and samples to send to experts tasked with investigating whale deaths.

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