SEASIDE PARK, NJ – Another dead whale has washed ashore at the New Jersey shore and this time, officials kept it under wraps until reporters began asking questions.
According to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, a Minke whale washed ashore on Thursday. This was not reported until reporters began asking questions, according to News12 reporter Jim Murdoch.
Murdoch said the MMSC and the NJ DEP, which have been open about whale beachings in the past, were quiet this time around.
“The confirmation did not come from an official. There seems to be a lack of wanting to talk about what took place this morning bc I can’t get any answers,” Murdoch said. “I am judging this morning’s conversation with the MMSC with ones I’ve had in the past and in the past they’ve been very upfront with a stranding and location. I want to make that clear as well. This wasn’t the case.”
The MMSC said the whale was one the team was trying to assist since Sunday afternoon, but the MMSC never reported that the whale had died.
“As confirmed this morning to a reporter that called our office, the whale died late yesterday,” the MMSC said on Thursday. “The carcass was transported from IBSP to another location on the mainland so that a necropsy could be conducted.”
MMSC said the public and media need to be patient in the reporting of the current mass whale death incident that has been occurring for the past year at a higher rate than normal.
The center now says they will post updates after a necropsy has been conducted. In the past, the MMSC openly reported on all whale deaths within hours of their response.
Murdoch, who has been following the story like most other New Jersey reporters said this time, he couldn’t get any answers.