Authorities Investigating Gruesome Death of Whale Found on a Ship in New Jersey

A dead whale was found on the bow of a container ship docked in New Jersey, sparking an investigation into the cause of death of the endangered animal.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported the whale carcass on Sunday at a marine terminal in Gloucester City, New Jersey, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. The animal rescue center is currently working with local authorities to remove the whale’s body in order to perform a necropsy and identify the cause of death.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also opened an investigation into the endangered animal’s death, urging anyone with relevant information to call the agency’s hotline.

Washed a’ship

The deceased animal was tentatively identified as a fin whale, the second largest species on Earth after the blue whale. Fully grown, fin whales can reach up to 70 to 85 feet long (21 to 27 meters) and weigh around 40 to 80 tons (36 to 73 metric tons). The dead whale found on the ship is approximately 25 to 30 feet long (7.6 to 9.1 meters).

Fin whales are listed as endangered species due to severe population depletion from historical commercial whaling, which ended in the 1980s. They currently face threats from vessel strikes, ocean noise pollution, getting tangled in fishing gear, and the impacts of climate change.

After becoming nearly extinct, the population of whales in the Atlantic Ocean is slowly recovering in light of new efforts to protect the giant marine animals. Like dolphins and porpoises, whales are protected by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, and therefore inflicting any kind of harm on those animals is illegal.

Fin whales are found throughout the world’s oceans and are known to swim in the waters from southern New Jersey to New York City.