‘Mystery whale’ is second of year to strand at Jersey Shore

🐋The whale was found on the beach in Spring Lake

🐋It was a Ziphiidae, a member of the beaked whale family

🐋17 whales were found stranded on New Jersey beaches in 2023

The second whale of the year to strand at the Jersey Shore was also a rare type that very little is known about.

A Ziphiidae, a member of the beaked whale family, was found on the St. Clair Avenue beach in Spring Lake on Thursday morning, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

A certified stranding volunteer and former stranding technician were sent to examine the 13-foot-2-inch cetacean before public works crews took it to their yard where it was determined to be moderately decomposed.

A necropsy will be performed at the state Department of Agriculture's Animal Health Diagnostic Lab in Trenton.

Nineteen Beaked whales have stranded at Jersey Shore beaches since 1978, according to the MMS. They are part of one of four species: Gervais’, True’s, Cuvier’s, and Blainville’s.

Beaked whales are one of the least-known groups of marine mammals as they live in deeper waters offshore. They are elusive by nature making them difficult to examine.

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Dolphins stranding at the Jersey Shore

Since last year, 17 whales were found stranded on New Jersey beaches.

The first whale to strand this year was a 20-30 foot humpback whale found at 51st Street in the Brant Beach section of Long Beach Township. It was found to have scars from previous entanglement with bruising around its head. Its skull and cervical vertebrae were shattered, its ribs and scapula dislocated and its organs liquified.

This year, 28 dolphins were found stranded at the Jersey Shore. The most recent were on June 1 in Atlantic Highlands and June 4 in Seaside Park.

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