Marine experts reveal potential cause of death for minke whale found in Middletown

Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read

MIDDLETOWN — A minke whale that died and washed into the Leonardo State Marina this week had multiple signs of illness, according to necropsy results shared by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center of Brigantine.

Staff of the stranding center, the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Sea Turtle Recovery and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai performed a necropsy on the young male whale on Thursday after its body was removed from the marina, according to the stranding center. The dead whale, which measured 18 feet 7 inches long, had become trapped between a bulkhead and breakwater at the marina on Wednesday afternoon, according to stranding staff.

"Initial findings showed bloody froth in the lungs and signs of infectious disease in multiple organs," the Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff wrote on Facebook. "There was no food in the GI (gastrointestinal) tract."

Marine animal experts perform a necropsy on the body of a dead minke whale, which was discovered Wednesday at the Leonardo State Marina in Middletown.
Marine animal experts perform a necropsy on the body of a dead minke whale, which was discovered Wednesday at the Leonardo State Marina in Middletown.

Additional tissue samples were collected from the whale for further analysis, the staff wrote.

Minke whales are found throughout the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but they are at greatest risk of harm from entanglement in fishing gear, noise pollution in the ocean, vessel strikes and climate change, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

In 2017, the agency began studying unusually high numbers of deaths among minke whales along the Atlantic coast. Between 2017 and 2022, 11 minke whales died along New Jersey, according to NOAA.

Middletown personnel and marine mammal experts gather at Leonardo State Park, where a dead minke whale was trapped between a bulkhead and breakwater on Oct. 19, 2023.
Middletown personnel and marine mammal experts gather at Leonardo State Park, where a dead minke whale was trapped between a bulkhead and breakwater on Oct. 19, 2023.

Earlier this month, marine animal experts humanely euthanized another minke whale after it stranded multiple times in Barnegat Bay and numerous rescue efforts failed.

In Middletown, marine mammal experts were assisted by the New Jersey State Park Police, state Fish and Wildlife conservation officers, New Jersey State Park Service, NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, Monmouth County Sheriff's Office, Middletown Department of Public Works and Middletown Dive Team.

Related Big ships speed through safety zones off Jersey Shore, putting whales in danger

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Marine experts reveal what may have killed minke whale in Middletown