On Friday morning, a 25-foot whale that was apparently struck and killed by a vessel was discovered washed up on the shore of the Rockaways.
According to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, the female minke whale with “several broken bones and cut wounds across its body” was spotted at 9 a.m. near Beach 29th Street.
“Additional evidence of blunt force trauma” was cited by the scientists, indicating that the animal likely perished after being struck by a boat or other vessel.
At least three deep wounds stretching from the whale’s back to its belly are shown in heartbreaking photographs.
Since 2017, the number of Minke deaths throughout the Atlantic coast has increased by at least 141, causing the NOAA to proclaim an Unusual Mortality Event.
Since December, the minke whale is the second whale to beach itself in the Rockaways.
In the earlier incident, a newborn whale was still alive when it washed up on the beach of the neighborhood late last year, but it died when rescuers were unable to force it back into the water.
Luna, a 40-year-old humpback whale, washed up on the shores of Long Beach around two weeks ago. The 14.5-ton leviathan, which scientists had monitored for decades, was also killed by a warship as it attempted to breach the surface.
»Minke whale presumably killed by vessel strike washes ashore in Rockaways«