Rare Type Of Whale Washes Up Thursday In Spring Lake

SPRING LAKE, NJ — A whale washed up on the beach in Spring Lake at 6 a.m. Thursday, according to Spring Lake Police and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

The whale, pictured above, washed ashore at St. Clair Ave. in Spring Lake. It measured just over 13 feet in length and was in moderately decomposed condition, said the Stranding Center. Its carcass was removed by Monmouth County DPW crews and taken to the New Jersey Dept. of Agriculture lab in Trenton to determine what caused its death.

When those results become available, they will be shared here on the Marine Mammal Stranding Center's website.

Some NJ Republican lawmakers and ocean advocacy groups say they suspect sonar could be hurting whales, and causing the increase in whale and dolphin beachings on the Shore.

Both Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ørsted confirmed to NJ 101.5 they have used sonar "extensively along the Jersey coast" to find suitable places to build their turbines. Danish company Ørsted has since canceled all wind projects off New Jersey, saying they are not economically viable.

Atlantic Shores is still pursuing building 110 turbines about 10 miles off Barnegat Light.

Not a single wind turbine has been built yet off the Jersey Shore.

NOAA and other federal agencies have said there is no evidence sonar blasting can hurt whales.

The whale is a member of the beaked whale family, which is a rare type of whale that usually lives in deep waters offshore, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

"Beaked whales are one of the least-known groups of marine mammals as they live in deeper waters offshore, spend little time on the surface, and exhibit elusive behavior, making it difficult for researchers to study them," the group said Thursday.