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Another dead whale spotted in Far Rockaway, as ‘unusual mortality event’ continues on East Coast
By
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
Published Feb 17, 2023
Modified Feb 17, 2023
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Brigid Bergin/Gothamist
By
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
Published Feb 17, 2023
Modified Feb 17, 2023
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Another dead whale has washed ashore, this time in Far Rockaway. The 25-foot adult female minke whale was spotted Friday morning on the sand near Beach 29th Street.
Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say it’s the 12th whale to come ashore on New York and New Jersey beaches since Dec. 1. Another whale was spotted just days ago in New Jersey on Feb. 14.
The whale appears to have died from a vessel strike, said Allison Ferreira of the NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.
“The animal had several broken bones and cut wounds across its body that appear to have occurred prior to death,” she said in a written statement. “There was additional evidence of blunt-force trauma.”
At the beach on Friday, staff from the city's Department of Parks and Recreation were on the scene. The area around the dead whale had been cordoned off with emergency tape. The juvenile was lying on its belly in the surf and had several deep gouges across its body.
"We mourn the loss of this awe-inspiring creature," said Izzy Verdery, press officer for the parks department. Verdery added that the agency was working with NOAA, the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate and dispose of the whale's corpse.
The juvenile whale had deep gouges across its body. Shipping ports in New York and New Jersey are considered the busiest in the nation.
Brigid Bergin/Gothamist
Ferreira urged onlookers to stay away from the whale, and to call NOAA’s marine mammal and sea turtle stranding hotline (866-755-6622) if they spot any other beached animals.
Humpback and minke whales are being found dead along the East Coast in greater numbers than usual, according to two reports from NOAA Fisheries. Close to two dozen large dead whales of all species have been spotted on East Coast beaches since Dec. 1, according to Ferreira.
NOAA and its partners have been investigating these “unusual mortality events” with humpbacks and minke whales along the Atlantic Coast since 2016 and 2017, respectively. In the humpback report, the agency states that “partial or full necropsy examinations were conducted on approximately half of the whales. Of the whales examined, about 40% had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement.” The findings for the minke whales, meanwhile, were even less conclusive.
The agency states more research is needed to determine if vessel strikes are primarily to blame for the deaths. Earlier this year, a viral theory blamed the rise of offshore wind facilities in New York-New Jersey waters — a theory that’s widely believed by environmental groups to be false. The Port of New York and New Jersey became the busiest shipping port in the country late last year.
Brigid Bergin contributed to reporting. This story was updated with additional details from NOAA.
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Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
Jaclyn is a former Gothamist reporter.
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