Whale Found On Bow Of Cruise Boat Pulled Ashore At Sandy Hook

HIGHLANDS, NJ — A dead whale was pulled ashore at Sandy Hook National Park Tuesday afternoon.

This is the same Sei whale that was originally reported caught on the bow of a cruise ship in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 4, said the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Federal contractors towed the whale carcass to Sandy Hook to be pulled ashore.

"On the morning of Saturday, May 4, a cruise ship in the Port of Brooklyn, New York, reported a dead whale caught on the ship’s bow. The whale has been identified as a Sei whale, approximately 44 feet long," announced the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries on their Facebook page. "The whale was relocated and towed to shore at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to allow for better access to heavy equipment and resources to conduct a necropsy."

"Sei whales are endangered, and are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline," they added.

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, contracted by NOAA, is performing the necropsy (autopsy on an animal), and results are not back as of Wednesday.

"A necropsy examination took place on May 7," said NOAA. "Samples were collected and will be sent for analysis. More information will be shared as it becomes available."

NOAA said scientists are specifically trying to determine if the whale was hit by the cruise ship before or after it died.

Whale deaths have been "elevated" in New Jersey since 2016, said the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in this report on the matter. NOAA also said collisions with boats or entanglement with fishing lines were responsible for about 40 percent of the whale deaths in New Jersey.

Sea Bright Fire Rescue, a group of volunteer local firefighters, said they were called in by the National Park Service to help pull the whale carcass to the beach, using ropes, and they shared those photos above of the efforts.

"Six members were deployed into the ocean and ran over 200’ of chain back to an excavator which completed the haul," said the firefighters. "The whale, measuring at 44’ and weighing in excess of 30k pounds was successfully recovered."