Beached Whale Washes Up on Lido Beach

A massive 35-foot-long humpback whale was found dead on the shores of Nassau County’s Lido Beach on January 30.  This is the 8th whale to wash up on New York and New Jersey coasts since December. 

“I’m astonished. It’s enormous. It’s so sad to see this kind of thing happen. I’m wondering how this happened,” said Long Beach resident Sarah Art. 

Marine biologists believe that the whale, Luna, was most likely killed by a boat, but they have taken samples for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death. However, results from the lab may take weeks or even months. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been tracking Luna, a 14.5-ton male humpback, for at least four decades, and he was last seen alive in September 2022. 

This sudden rise in deaths is sparking a political debate over what is causing them and some point to offshore wind activity. Some worried New Jersey citizens have even called for a crackdown on offshore wind projects, but NOAA has repeatedly dismissed those calls as speculative.

“I know as an agency we really follow the facts, and the science information,” Cara Patino said. “So at this point, there is no evidence for us to believe that it’s tied to wind energy at all.”

In fact, according to NOAA, the trend of increasing whale strandings has been observed since 2016. 

Nevertheless, a temporary halt to work on preparing the ocean floor for the two states’ offshore wind projects has been requested by certain New Jersey politicians. 

The governor of New Jersey stated that he disagrees with the notion. The majority of the environmental organizations in New Jersey referred to any connection between the fatalities and the offshore wind work as “unfounded and premature.”

For now, in light of Luna’s presumed cause of death, boaters traveling off the Long Island and New Jersey coasts are urged to drive slowly and keep an eye out for whales