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The Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) released the humpback whale's autopsy findings in a Facebook post on Friday, Apr. 12. The whale was found in the surf near 51st Street in Long Beach at around 6:45 a.m. on Thursday, Apr. 11.
MMSC said the whale was a one-year-old male that was 24 feet 10 inches long. The initial findings showed the whale's head had bruises, several skull fractures, and a hematoma.
The autopsy also showed the whale suffered several fractured cervical vertebrae, dislocated ribs, and a dislocated scapula.
"These injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma," said MMSC. "Most of the major internal organs were liquified, with only the heart identifiable. Scars from a previous entanglement unrelated to the stranding event were present around the peduncle, flukes, and right front pectoral flipper."
Long Beach public works and police crews moved the whale's carcass off the beach by 1 p.m. The body was brought to the township's public works facility and it was buried there after the autopsy was completed by 5 p.m.
This whale is the first one MMSC has found dead along the Jersey Shore since Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. According to the Brigantine group's stranding data, a minke whale was found near Leonardo State Marina in Middletown and an autopsy said the whale had signs of an infectious disease in several organs.
There were 14 dead whales found on the Jersey coast in 2023. Eight of those had already been discovered by MMSC by Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2023.
MMSC also said 16 dead dolphins and porpoises have washed up along the Jersey Shore so far in 2024, exactly half as many as the 32 found in 2023.
"Our entire team is always deeply saddened by every deceased animal that we investigate, but the ones that hit the hardest are animals like this young whale who never got the chance to contribute to his species," MMSC said.
Tissue samples were taken from the whale's carcass to be analyzed. MMSC said it will share updates when the results are available.
The nonprofit group Sea Turtle Recovery and state Fish and Wildlife conservation officers helped with the autopsy.
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