- The dead humpback whale was between four and 10 years old
- Experts will perform an autopsy on Monday to determine the cause of death.
- READ MORE: Dead dolphin washed up on New Jersey beach last month
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The lifeless body of a juvenile humpback whale was found Sunday off the coast of Virginia, prompting an investigation into the cause of its death.
The region’s response to the strandings was called to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Sunday morning after beachgoers spotted the massive marine mammal about three miles offshore.
The whale was a male, between four and ten years old and up to 32 feet long.
Crews have since pulled the whale from the water and are expected to perform a necropsy on Monday, in which it will be divided from mouth to tail and samples taken for analysis.
While the dead whale is a mystery, these types of incidents can occur due to entanglements in fishing nets and boat strikes, but some locals believe offshore wind companies are to blame.
The juvenile male, between four and 10 years old, was spotted about three miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.
Beachgoers spotted the dead whale in the ocean Sunday morning and immediately called authorities.
The Virginia Aquarium’s Stranding Response team arrived on the beach with heavy machinery to lift the giant whale from the water and drag its carcass to the beach.
Chesapeake resident Sharif Young was headed to the Oceanfront on Sunday to ride his longboard when he spotted the whale.
He said 13NewsNow: “I just saw this giant conglomeration of people coming, so I thought, ‘What’s going on?
“I see this little wavy thing and I thought, ‘Is that a whale?’ So I went down and there was a whale.’
The Mid-Atlantic Whale Monitoring Project shared news of the dead whale on Facebook, noting that the group had previously seen the live animal on February 15 and 18.
Crews have since pulled the whale from the water and are expected to perform a necropsy on Monday, in which it will be divided from mouth to tail and samples taken for analysis.
At the time, the project shared images of the young male, noting that he appeared to have an unusual skin condition.
It is unknown if the skin condition contributed to his death.
Humpback whales travel to the Caribbean during the winter to breed.
Almost all seen near Virginia are juveniles because they are too young to breed and remain in the region until late March; They then head further north as the climate warms.
Several dead whales have been reported in the area in recent years, sparking concern among locals who claim offshore wind farms are to blame.
More than 200 humpback whales have died along the East Coast since 2016, 31 of them near Virginia.
The Mid-Atlantic Whale Monitoring Project shared news of the dead whale on Facebook, noting that the group had previously seen the live animal on February 15 and 18.
Dominion Energy is the company investigating the surrounding waters, which has led some conservation groups to threaten to sue the federal government over fears the offshore wind company is to blame.
The groups have claimed that an offshore wind company’s sonar for mapping the seafloor is to blame, as it has been suggested that the technology disrupts the animals’ movements, sending them onto ships or ashore.
Evidence has shown that when exposed to high sonar frequencies, marine mammals swim hundreds of miles and rapidly change depth.
However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other scientists have said there is no evidence linking marine animal deaths to offshore wind farms.