Another Dead Dolphin Beached in New Jersey Coast, 24th Carcass Recorded in 5 Months

On the coasts of New Jersey, another dead dolphin washed up, racking up the tally to 24th in just five months.

24th Dead Dolphin in 5 Months

The 24th dead dolphin that was beached on New Jersey shores since December was discovered dead on the Baltimore Avenue beach in Cape May early on Saturday morning.

An adult female common dolphin was discovered on Saturday, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. The carcass was taken by members of the center's team for a necropsy.

On Tuesday, a porpoise washed ashore in Toms River's Ortley Beach neighborhood. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is still waiting on the results of the necropsy. Dolphins and porpoises are both toothed whales or odontocetes. The dorsal fins and beaks of dolphins are more pointed, while those of porpoises are rounder and have more triangular shapes.

Wind Energy Projects

The issue of whether or not to work on wind energy projects near the shores of New Jersey and New York is to blame for the 16 whales and more than 20 dolphins and porpoises that were beached since December is still up for debate.

Governor Phil Murphy reiterated Friday his opposition to taking a temporary break from wind energy development and claimed there is no proof. He posted a report from the Rutgers Offshore Wind Energy Collaborative and claimed that those calling for a stop were spreading "disinformation."

The majority of media, the report claims, are too quick to attribute whale strandings' causes without giving data and scientific input much thought. Before drawing any conclusions about the causes, it is more important than ever to take into account the available evidence and the extent of the entire system. The Rutgers report stated that many factors, both natural and human-caused, have an impact on ecosystem health.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, US Representative Jeff Van Drew and US Senator Vince Polistina spoke at a rally in Ventnor on Sunday opposing the construction of wind projects in front of an estimated 500 people.

In her 51 years living in Atlantic County, Polistina remarked that this was one of the scariest things she had ever encountered, New Jersey 101.5 reports.

Marine Experts

There are no known links between any of these offshore wind projects and any whale strandings, regardless of species, according to Benjamin Laws, the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources deputy chief for the permits and conservation division. This was in response to the stranded humpback whale at the time.

Laws added that there is no evidence to support the theory that the sonar technology used by wind energy companies to map the ocean floor may have killed the whales. According to officials, the wind energy project is not allowed to use sonar at volumes that could kill whales or other marine life.

According to Laws, there is no evidence to support any claims that any of the machinery being used to support wind development for the site characterization surveys would directly result in the demise of a whale, CNN reports.