Endangered Sperm Whale Washes Up in NJ

Investigators from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center will be on the beach in Keansburg today to try and determine why a dead sperm whale washed up on the beach Monday morning.

Sperm whales are an endangered species. They are among the largest whales in the world, and can grow to over 50 feet in length and weigh up to 45 tons.

The whale that washed up on the beach in Keansburg was just a baby, but still measured over 12 feet in length and weighed over a ton. That was too big for crews to move back to the MMSC offices in Brigantine.

Samples will be taken and a necropsy performed to determine the cause of death.

There were no initial signs of trauma on the whale or evidence it may have been hit by a ship.

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The whale was young enough to still be nursing, and it is possible it got separated from its mother and starved to death.

The Asbury Park Press reports a whale washed ashore on the New York side of the harbor on Sunday and was likely still alive when someone pushed it back into the ocean. It's likely it was the same whale that washed up on the New Jersey beach on Monday.