Tag Archives: blunt force trauma

Why are the whales dying? Sea mammal deaths hit record in New York and New Jersey

As whales wash up along East Coast shores at alarming rates, researchers dissect decomposing carcasses, logging whether ship strikes or fishing gear factored into each demise, while some beachgoers wonder if their favorite coastline will be next. At least 14 humpbacks and minke whales have been found dead thus far in 2023 in waters off New York and New Jersey — up from 9 in the entirety of last year. The most recent deaths were two humpbacks, whose corpses were spotted May 31, in Raritan Bay off Keansburg, New Jersey, and Wainscott on Long Island. >click to read< 11:52

Officials Reveal Suspected Cause Of Death For 2 Whales Floating Off New York Coast

Two humpback whales that were seen floating dead off the coasts of New York and New Jersey earlier this week had evidence of experiencing blunt force trauma, officials said One was a 47-foot male floating off eastern Long Island, and the other was a 28-foot female in Raritan Bay between New York and New Jersey. Though the two whales were both first spotted on Wednesday, their “different levels of decomposition” indicate that their deaths were unrelated, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a Facebook post on Friday. NOAA also announced the suspected cause of death for each whale. >click to read< 08:21

2 whales found dead along Atlantic Coast were likely hit by boats, NOAA says.

Necropsies on two whales found dead along the Atlantic coast this week revealed that both marine mammals showed evidence of vessel strikes. Both whales, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and a humpback, were already beginning to decompose, but preliminary results show internal injuries consistent with the blunt force trauma of a vessel strike, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday. The deaths are among a flurry of 21 whale deaths along the length of the Atlantic coast since Dec. 3. >click to read< 09:20

Veterinarians release results from study of North Atlantic right whale deaths

Veterinarians examining the carcasses of six right whales found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this summer say four died from blunt force trauma, one was entangled in fishing gear and the other was too decomposed to say for sure. Pierre-Yves Daoust of the Atlantic Veterinary College says there was no evidence to suggest various toxins may have played a major role in the deaths.,,, About a dozen North Atlantic right whales have died in the Gulf since June — an unprecedented number of deaths for a marine mammal that is at risk of extinction with an estimated population of just 458. click here to read the story 12:23

Statement by Ministers LeBlanc and Garneau on report released on this summer’s North Atlantic Right Whale deathsclick here to read the statement