8th Giant Whale Dies On New York Beach Since January…Why?

Eight whales have died on New York beaches since January. Ten whales perished in the span of two months at the end of 2022. Today, another was added to the list on the beaches of Robert Moses State Park.

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According to John Valenti of newsday.com, New York State Park Police have cordoned off a portion of the popular beach, one week before Memorial Day kicks off summer, after a large dead whale was found Friday morning. Why are so many whales dying off the coast of New York?

Valenti said that the beached whale is believed to be a juvenile humpback measuring about 18 to 20 feet. George Gorman, the regional director of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation told newsday.com that the whale was discovered by state park staff at about 6:45 a.m. on Friday morning. The cause of death has not been determined.

According to a February 28th article by Tracey Tully and Winston Choi-Schagrin, of nytimes.com, 23 dead whales had died to that point along the East Coast since early December. The article stated that the whale deaths have come at the same time that work was being done installing about a dozen large from Massachusetts to Virginia. According to nytimes.com, "opponents of offshore wind have said that the sonar used by energy companies to map the ocean floor or the noise from seabed rock sampling might be contributing to the whale deaths, though NOAA and the Marine Mammal Commission say there is no evidence that this is true." It may or may not be the installation of the wind turbines but something is killing these whales and it has scientists alarmed.