Whale Carcass Washes Up On A Coney Island Beach
On Monday, a partly decapitated Minke whale washed ashore on one of Coney Island’s beaches. Officials state that the Coney Island whale most likely died from a collision with a boat.
Coney Island has long since been a tourist attraction. The beaches and, of course, the theme park brings a large number of visitors every year.
The whale washed up around 2 p.m. near the Boardwalk on Ocean Parkway on Monday. Kim Durham of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation performed a necropsy (an animal autopsy.)
The 18-foot long body showed signs of being struck by a propeller.
PIX11 spokes with a representative of the Riverhead Foundation about the cause of death.
“Due to the presence of internal bruising, propeller slices, and lacerations of a mechanical nature, the cause of death is consistent with a ship strike.”
Officials believe the whale died within the last 48 hours.
Riverhead Foundation says Coney Island whale is third dead this year: http://t.co/oVMYbSH5sH pic.twitter.com/TGLLbpKN3x
— katie honan (@katie_honan) June 8, 2015
The Minke whale was determined to be female. She was in good body condition and still had food in her stomach at the time of death. Her age is unknown.
As Nature World News reports, a whale’s age is determined by the ear bones — which were missing in the body of the Coney Island whale.
“It’s unclear its exact age, since that number is normally determined by measuring a whale’s ear bones (and the top half of its head is missing). Nonetheless, Durham took skin, tissue and muscle samples as well as the mammal’s reproductive organs and stomach to bring back to the Riverhead Foundation’s lab in Suffolk County for further testing and to learn more about this whale.”
Minke whales are not uncommon in and around New York waters. It is uncommon, however, for a body of a whale to wash up on Coney Island.
Dead Whale Washes Onto Coney Island Beach http://t.co/pt1peppxcM
— NY Solar Energy Society (@solar254) June 9, 2015
Surprisingly, this is the third whale carcass to wash up near Long Island in the last six months.
Officials worry that more whales will be hit by ships’ propellers as food sources drive the animals closer to shore. Most whales follow their food source and can end up in some unusual places. Unfortunately, that could ultimately lead to their deaths.
Officials worked throughout Monday evening removing the body of the whale from the beach. The carcass was cut into sections and more research will be conducted.
This was definitely one bad day at the beach for this whale, and for those Coney Island visitors that made the grisly discovery.
[Image via Debbie Egan-Chin / New York Daily News]
