Another whale washed up dead on a beach off the New York-New Jersey coast, the ninth case since December.
The latest specimen was found yesterday off the coast of Whiting Avenue in Manasquan (NJ) after being washed up by the waves, according to Point Pleasant Mayor Paul Kanitra.
Clean Ocean Action (COA), an environmental conservation organization, warned that the large number of whale deaths in a period of approximately two months had not been seen in the region in some 50 years.
The group believes that offshore wind power projects could be to blame for the rise in deaths. “This alarming number of deaths is unprecedented in the last half-century. The only factor unique from previous years is the excessive scope, scale, and magnitude of offshore wind power plant activity in the region,” COA said in a statement. a statement.
But scientists from the Office of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have found no evidence that wind power projects and whale deaths are linked. “To date, no whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activities,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries public affairs director Lauren Gaches told reporters on January 18, recalled New York Post.
In late January, a 41-foot-long humpback whale named washed up on Long Island. Federal authorities said the massive 29,000-pound mammal was likely struck by a ship and was called “the largest whale” seen in that area.
In December, despite the efforts of surfers, a 32-foot-long baby female whale died after running aground in Queens, NYC.
In what has been called a “miracle” of aquatic ecology, in the past decade, scientists have noted a resurgence in marine mammal activity and presence around NYC and New Jersey, with reports of humpback whales, dolphins, and even seals.