SPRING LAKE, New Jersey (WABC) — A beaked whale washed upon the beach in Spring Lake on Thursday, marine officials say.
Marine Mammal Stranding Center officials received a call just before 6 a.m. of a whale found on the beach at St. Clair Ave.
The Spring Lake Department of Public Works secured and transported the whale to the public works yard.
The whale measured 13′ 2″ in length and was in moderately decomposed condition after being being examined on site, according to officials.
The carcass was transported to the Animal Health Diagnostic Lab (NJAHDL), New Jersey Dept. of Agriculture in Trenton for a necropsy.
Beaked whales are Odontocetes, or toothed whales, named for their narrow rostrums and are one of the least-known groups of marine mammals.
Some NJ lawmakers and ocean advocacy groups say they suspect sonar could be hurting whales, and causing the increase in whale and dolphin beachings on the Shore.
Both Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ørsted confirmed to NJ 101.5 they have used sonar “extensively along the Jersey coast” to find suitable places to build their turbines. Danish company Ørsted has since canceled all wind projects off New Jersey, saying they are not economically viable.
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