‘Emaciated’ 17-foot sea creature washes up on NJ beach, and its death is a mystery

A sea creature’s death is a mystery after it was found washed up on a New Jersey beach, officials said.

On Dec. 4, personnel with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center performed a necropsy on a Minke whale that was found washed ashore at Sunset Beach on Cape May Point, according to a Facebook post by the center.

The whale was found to be over 17 feet long and “emaciated,” officials said.

The sub-adult female had fish bones in her stomach but no whole fish, while her intestines were empty with a number of round worms, officials said.

The whale’s lungs were filled with mucus, and “evidence of infectious disease was present,” officials said.

Minke whales are members of the “great” whale family, and they are the smallest baleen whale in North American waters, reaching lengths of 35 feet and up to 20,000 pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

They usually travel in groups of two or three and hunt by side-lunging into “schools of prey and gulping large amounts of water,” the NOAA said.

After the necropsy, the whale was buried, according to the post.

The samples were sent to a lab, and officials said they’ll make the findings known when they become available.

Cape May Point is about a 110-mile drive south of Trenton.

This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 2:36 PM with the headline "‘Emaciated’ 17-foot sea creature washes up on NJ beach, and its death is a mystery."