Eight dolphins died Tuesday after a grisly ‘mass stranding’ event flooded a New Jersey beach, the latest in a series of mysterious marine life deaths off the East Coast.
Beachgoers in Sea Island City came ashore late in the morning to find the pod of dolphins stranded. Despite rescue crews’ efforts to keep them hydrated, two were pronounced dead at the scene.
The remaining six dolphins were euthanized several hours later, adding to the more than three dozen cetaceans that have turned up dead in recent months.
Since mid-February, at least six other dolphins have washed ashore in New Jersey alone, while dozens of whales are routinely discovered along the Atlantic coast.
Humpback whales appear to be the most commonly stranded, with at least 16 dying on the region’s beaches since early December. Authorities are now grappling with how to explain the deaths.
Emergency crews rushed to Sea Island City, New Jersey, Tuesday morning following reports of eight dolphins washed ashore. Two of the dolphins died on the spot and the remaining six were euthanized hours later.
Following the fatal mass stranding in New Jersey, the Navy Mammal Stranding Center said the six surviving dolphins were euthanized because they were “rapidly deteriorating.”
“The decision was made to humanely euthanize the dolphins to prevent further suffering, as returning them to the ocean would only have prolonged their inevitable death,” the agency added.
“We share the public’s grief for these beautiful animals and hope that the necropsies will help us understand why they were stranded.”
In January, a massive 35-foot humpback whale grabbed headlines after washing up on the shore of Long Island, which at the time was the 10th such incident off the beaches of New York and New Jersey in two months.
Recent years have seen a disturbing increase in strandings, prompting the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare an “unusual mortality event” in 2017.
Since then, at least 335 humpback, right and minke whales, a small species of whale, have died after reaching the East Coast.
Throughout 2022, 19 humpback whales were stranded on the US Atlantic coast, according to NOAA.
But by the end of February, levels of humpback whales stranding on the East Coast had already reached 50 percent of the 2017 tally, with at least 29 whales dying on the East Coast since December.
Included in this disturbing number are six North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species.
As bodies of water accumulate, authorities have scrambled to provide answers about the sudden influx of beach strandings, with offshore wind developments being one possible cause floating around.
Critics say sonar technology used by energy companies to map the ocean floor could be confusing marine life, sending it toward shore or out of its natural habitats.
However, several authorities have dismissed these claims and say there is no evidence that it is true.
The Marine Mammal Commission insisted that high levels of stranding “are not new, nor are they unique to the Atlantic coast of the United States.”
A disturbing number of whales and dolphins have died in recent months after stranding on East Coast beaches. Pictured: A humpback whale recovered from Lido Beach, New York, on January 20, 2023.
At least 29 whales have come ashore since December on the East Coast. Pictured: A beached whale on Rockaway Beach in the Queens borough of New York
The most common reason attributed to the deaths has been that the animals were struck by boats or caught in fishing nets.
Autopsies performed on many of the humpback whales found since 2016 found that about 40 percent had evidence of “human interaction,” meaning collisions with ships or entanglements, according to NOAA.
Another reason that could explain the mass deaths is the surge in online shopping since the pandemic, which has driven a record number of cargo shipments to the East Coast.
The increase has led to an increase in Titanic ships moving through the region, and their updated routes may have started intersecting with more whales than ever before.
“When the whales are in these channels, you have to cross your fingers and hope there are no collisions,” said Paul Sieswerda, chief executive of Gotham Whale, a New York City-based whale research group. New York Times.
Pictured: Officials examine a whale in Rockaway Beach, New York, on December 13, 2022.
Despite repeated denials by authorities that the series of strandings is due to offshore wind farms, Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution to legislate on the issue the same day the eight dolphins died in New Jersey.
The resolution, introduced by New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew and cosponsored by several of his House colleagues, calls for a halt to all wind farm projects until full environmental and economic impact has been achieved.
“While this administration continues to ignore the adverse consequences that could result from the development of offshore wind energy, my colleagues and I will not,” Van Drew said in a statement to Fox Digital News.
“It is imperative that the range of unanswered concerns be addressed, from maritime travel and security to the environment and national security.”
