Featured Image Credit: NOAA Fisheries
By Sarah Sharkey
Six marine mammals washed ashore in New Jersey this week. Three bottlenose dolphins and two pygmy sperm whales were stranded on Jersey Shore.
The dolphins were all found dead. Their cause of death is currently unknown, but the Marine Mammal Stranding Center sent one of the dolphins for a necropsy to determine the specific cause of death. The last dolphin to wash ashore was at Sea Girt, but was in such a deteriorated condition that is had to buried on site. Interestingly, one of the dolphins had a shark bite scar according to Bob Schoelkopf, executive director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.
The pygmy sperm whales washed ashore together at Brigantine. The pair was a mother and a calf. They were found alive, but unfortunately, the two whales were beyond rescue. The team collected measurements from these whales for future research but were unable to help the creatures survive. The rescue team had to euthanize the unfortunate whales.
So why are all of these marine mammal strandings happening lately? Schoelkopf said that it could be attributed to the recent hurricanes that produced extremely rough conditions offshore. “Some of the weaker animals tire in the currents and wash up.”
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