The second dead whale of the year washes up on a Jersey Shore beach

🐋 A 30-foot humpback whale washed ashore in Sandy Hook, sparking concern among officials and beachgoers.
⚠️ The cause of death remains unknown as experts prepare for a necropsy to determine what happened.
🌊 This marks the second whale death reported in New Jersey this year.

A dead whale washed up on the beach in Sandy Hook on Wednesday morning.

Dead humpback whale discovered off Sandy Hook coast

Officials at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine received a report just before 8 am on April 1 of a dead whale floating just offshore of Sandy Hook.

About a half hour later, a second report came in that the whale had landed on the beach.

The whale was identified as a 30-foot humpback, according to an MMSC stranding coordinator who went to the beach to assess the situation.

Check out the video below of the dead whale, courtesy of ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

Necropsy planned as cause of whale death remains unclear

MMSC is currently assembling a team to remove the carcass from Sandy Hook and to facilitate the necropsy, since it is not clear how the whale died.

Updates on the whale’s necropsy will be shared via the MMSC’s Media Center.

Second whale death in New Jersey raises concerns

This is the second whale death the stranding center has reported so far this year. On February 20, a young male fin whale washed ashore in Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island.

The humpback whale’s death comes less than a week after another whale washed ashore on a beach in Queens. The dead 30 to 40-foot sei whale that washed up on Rockaway Beach near the 95th Street beach was believed to have been hit by a boat, according to the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom