Dead Endangered Whale Found On Container Ship’s Bow In South Jersey Port Sparks Probe

U.S Coast Guard Delaware Bay made a shocking discovery at New Jersey’s Gloucester City Marine Terminal in South Jersey.

A dead whale, identified as a fin whale, was found on a container ship’s bow, across from Philadelphia on the Delaware River.

Officials from the Marine Mammal Stranding Centre and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are investigating the incident.

The MMSC transported the whale’s carcass for a necropsy to confirm the cause of death.

According to NOAA Fisheries, fin whales usually live in deep waters and swim in open seas far from the coast.

It remains to be determined whether the unidentified container vessel hit the whale or if it just collided with the whale’s dead body, unknowingly towing it to the port.

This is a cause for concern, as NOAA Fisheries is seeing a rise in the number of deaths among three whale species, including humpback whales, minke whales, and North Atlantic right whales.

Fin Whales are categorised as ‘depleted’ under the MMPA and are mentioned in the Endangered Species Act.

Before this incident, two whales were found dead in New Jersey due to vessel strikes.

Per media outlets, many whale species are under threat, not just from vessel collisions but from getting entangled in fishing gear.

Rising temperatures are also to blame.

A dead fin whale washed ashore in Delaware in March; however, the species does not frequent shallow waters.

The incident indicated potential stress among the species and also food scarcity.

NOAA stated that global warming has disrupted the reproduction cycle of fin whales, endangering the species even further.

Source: Maritime Shipping News