A deceased 30-foot humpback whale washed up on an Atlantic City beach near Chelsea Ave Friday morning. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine determined that the whale was female and a little older than juvenile.
An Atlantic City woman made a call to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine around 7:40 a.m. and reported that she spotted the deceased whale from her nearby high-rise apartment, according to officials.
The 25-ton whale was located near Chelsea Avenue in Atlantic City when the marine mammal response team made it to the beach around 9 a.m.
"The city went down and pulled it up out of the surf. We really couldn't go into the surf to try to do anything with it because it was too dangerous," said Sheila Dean, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Measurements and samples the response team took revealed the whale was a 30-foot, female humpback whale, a little older than a juvenile, Dean said.
The humpback was buried at the site where it washed ashore at about 12:30 p.m. Friday, according to officials.
"We have to bury it right where it is because it's 25 tons, so it's not easy to move it," Dean said.
Samples were also taken from the humpback to help determine the cause of death, but as of now, the cause remains unknown, officials said.
It could take a few months before the response team finds a cause of death if anything is found at all, Dean noted.
Allison Ferreira, the public affairs officer for NOAA Fisheries' Greater Atlantic regional office, a stewardship of U.S. national marine resources, said the humpback that washed ashore on Friday was likely dead for a few days and brought to shore due to surf conditions.
Although they are not listed as threatened species, the United States listed all humpback whales as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act in 1970 and then under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
There have been several dead whales washing ashore in New Jersey and New York over the past few months, Ferreira noted. Earlier this month, another dead 30-foot humpback whale washed ashore in Strathmere in Cape May County.
No cause of death has been determined for any of the deceased whales recently brought to shore, according to Ferreira.
Because the fracture line that descends the Atlantic ocean has been active recently and the Charlie Gibbs fracture line too, deep powerful earthquakes that must surely cause harm to such huge beasts of the sea.