Over the past few weeks, many humpback whales have washed up deceased on the Jersey Shore. The latest one washed up upon Manasquan. Currently, the death toll is at nine.  The most recent whale was removed from the beach Tuesday, February 15th, 2023, and taken to the county landfill for a necropsy and to collect tissue samples. The whale is one of many recently found dead in New York and New Jersey. At least 10 humpback whales have died in East Coast waters in 2023, six near New York and New Jersey.

Conservatives and some conservationist activists have attributed the rise in deaths to increasing offshore wind projects, calling on federal authorities to do more to protect the coastline. Most federal officials have pushed back against claims that wind turbines are to blame, saying evidence does not support the contention that wind energy projects cause whale deaths. Local whale recovery and animal welfare organizations have faced threats. Humpback whale strandings have been increasing for seven years. As noted by the BBC, as of 2016, there were 178 East Coast whale deaths. Of those deaths that scientists have examined, 40% were caused by human behavior, such as ships or whales becoming entangled in fishing gear. There have been accusations that they are “hiding” wind turbine-caused deaths.

According to CBS, at least 12 New Jersey mayors have written to their state congressional delegation, calling for a pause on offshore wind activities until “further investigation is held by federal and state agencies that determine these activities are not a contributing factor to recent whale deaths”.

On Sunday, February 19th, activists and community members held a rally in Point Beach to get officials to listen to their concerns. Hundreds of people showed up for this rally to demand a change. Hopefully, in the near future, we as a community will solve and fix this problem before more whales and other creatures end up dead in mass on our shores.