On Thursday morning, the body of a humpback whale that had been floating off Seaside Park was found washed ashore.
The whale had been identified as a humpback on Wednesday by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center and was still in the tidal wash at the edge of the water. The whale appeared to have been dead for a while, as its mouth was coming apart and it emitted a fishy odor that could be smelled from the parking lot across the dunes, even in the light rain. The whale measured approximately 10 feet long and attracted a steady stream of onlookers.
News 12 New Jersey first reported the beaching shortly before 7 a.m., and officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center were notified at 11:04 a.m. on Wednesday when the whale’s body was about half a mile off Seaside Park.
After analyzing drone footage, the center officials confirmed that the carcass was that of a humpback whale.
At first, officials were not sure whether the whale was the same one seen floating near Ambrose Channel on Monday, but later, staff with Clean Ocean Action confirmed that the Ambrose Channel whale was not the same one found off Seaside Park.
