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The Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) posted on Facebook to release the necropsy findings for the 17-and-a-half-foot minke whale discovered in Lavallette on Friday, Oct. 4. The animal's body was found near Trenton Avenue at around 6:30 a.m.
The male was considered thin and had no food in its digestive tract.
"Evidence of inflammation in multiple organs consistent with infectious disease was documented," MMSC posted. "Biological samples were collected and will be sent for histopathologic analysis."
The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSEAS) and Cornell University helped perform the necropsy. The borough's government decided to bury the whale's remains at the beach.
About 24 hours before, a 23-foot minke whale was found off the coast of Sandy Hook in the Raritan and Lower bays on Thursday, Oct. 3. The whale washed ashore in Queens, New York, at Fort Tilden's beach on Saturday, Oct. 5.
AMSEAS said the female also showed signs of infectious diseases. The findings were similar to other whales stranded in the New York/New Jersey Bight.
There have been eight whales found dead by MMSC in New Jersey so far in 2024, according to MMSC data. There were 14 dead whales discovered in 2023, 13 of which had already been found by Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2023.
MMSC updated the stranding data to mention an unknown baleen whale's severely decomposed and scavenged carcass seen floating about three-and-a-half miles off the coast of Holgate on Oct. 3. The remains washed ashore on the north side of Little Egg Inlet on Oct. 5.
A 13-foot-2 beaked whale's body was discovered on a Spring Lake beach on Thursday, June 13. The first dead whale of the year was found in Long Beach on Thursday, Apr. 11, and died from blunt force trauma.
You can report dead marine animals to MMSC by calling the Brigantine group's 24-hour hotline at 609-266-0538.
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