Dead whale washes ashore near Manasquan Inlet; 8th since December in NJ

MANASQUAN — A dead whale beached along New Jersey on Monday, the eighth to have died on or near the state's coast since early December.

Roughly 200 people gathered on the Manasquan Inlet beach to watch the whale's body float southward in 4 to 8 foot swells before borough police began clearing onlookers from the sand after 4 p.m. Seagulls pecked at the whale's belly and a helicopter circled overhead as the whale floated toward the beach.

"I was riding my bike and I looked out and I saw a whale being surrounded by a lot of birds," said Mike Colicchio of Brielle. "It was just lifeless."

The whale's death is likely to reignite the ire of groups who are blaming offshore wind energy development for the strandings. Groups such as Clean Ocean Action and Save LBI have urged the federal government to stop all offshore wind work in the ocean until the deaths are thoroughly investigated. The groups say noise from sonar mapping of the ocean floor and soil boring is harming or killing the whales.

"There's never been (this many) in two months," said Clean Ocean Action Executive Director Cindy Zip, referring to whale strandings along New Jersey as well as New York. "That's unprecedented."

She added: "What also is unprecedented is 11 permits for the offshore wind industry companies to conduct pre-construction activities, with authorization from the federal government, the National Marine Fisheries Service, to harass or harm… over 63,000 marine mammals… They know that this is harmful activity, which is why they issued them (offshore wind companies) permits for harming up to 63,000 animals."

The larger story:What we know now about the rash of whale deaths at the Jersey Shore

Zipf said whales are too important to move ahead with offshore wind projects without knowing for certain the activity will not harm them.

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, and local whale experts say there is no evidence that those activities have any role in the animals' deaths. The more likely causes are ship collisions and entanglements with fishing gear, which account for about 40% of humpback whale deaths, according to NOAA.

Patrick Lepore of Manasquan was reluctant to lay blame on offshore wind work.

"It could be anything" that lead to its death, Lepore said. "We don't know what it is, (or) why it died. No one knows."

Years before offshore wind companies began any work in the ocean, NOAA began recording "unusual mortality events" among North Atlantic right whales, minke and humpback whales in the Atlantic Ocean.

Standing on the beach on Monday afternoon, Manasquan Councilman Michael Mangan said everyone is looking for answers. He said the borough was seeking a necropsy of the animal for answers.

A staff member of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine said the center had been contacted about the whale, but that no information was immediately available.

Billy Avery, 49, who grew up in Manasquan said his friends never saw whales or dolphins near the coast when they were growing up. That has since chanced, he said.

"The fact that they're more common in the area now, we're probably going to see more of this anyway," he said.

On Sunday, another whale — an endangered North Atlantic right whale — stranded in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

Check back to app.com for more on this developing story.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Dead whale washes ashore on New Jersey Shore