TO WHALES

An unusual mortality event has led to hundreds of stranded whales along the North Atlantic seaboard over the years, but finding out why hasn’t been an easy path

By Kristen Dowd

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On Manasquan Beach in February, members from the Marine Mammal Stranding center and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society performed a necropsy on an approximate 35-foot female humpback whale that washed ashore. The advanced state of decomposition made it difficult to determine a potential cause of death.

Gitis ulparum hilit, esto exere rero tem rem. Nem voloritiae. Ut officium am eos ipsa

In January, stranding network members from various organizations, including the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, conducted a necropsy on a humpback whale that washed up in Brigantine. Preliminary findings showed that the female whale, which weighed approximately 12 tons, suffered blunt trauma injuries

THIS TIME OF YEAR, Ocean City beaches are alive with activity. And while beachgoers may not be giving much thought to the importance of the ocean in between their sandcastles, sunbathing and swimming, most would agree that it is important – and not just because it’s a pretty sparkling backdrop to their day at the beach.

“Protecting the ocean is important,” Andy Rogan said. “From controlling the climate to providing sustenance and economic well-being for billions of humans, they are crucial to the health of this planet and its inhabitants – both human and otherwise.”

Andy is a marine mammal biologist who serves as the scientific manager of Ocean Alliance, one of the first nonprofits dedicated to protecting whales and their environment. Based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the organization played a critical role in the Save the Whales movement against commercial whaling and, more recently, has been able to utilize drone technology in its whale research and conservation science.

“Drones allow us to collect this really broad spectrum of data. There is so much potential to understand whale’s lives,” Andy said. “The more we understand about whales, the better we can protect them.”

Protecting whales has been of particular interest in Ocean City and the North Atlantic seaboard as of late, with an increase in whale strandings –primarily among humpback whales – building in the area over the past seven years.

Starting in 2016, 200 whales have been stranded per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ last tally in June. This number includes 28 in New Jersey alone, as well as 39 in neighboring New York.

In 2017, the NOAA Fisheries declared the deaths an unusual mortality event under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was passed by Congress in 1972. This type of mortality event is defined as an unexpected stranding requiring an immediate response that involves a considerable number of deaths among a marine mammal population.

“Broadly speaking, there can be a lot of reasons why whales end up on beaches,” Andy said. “It often isn’t necessarily a bad sign. Whales have been beaching since whales have been alive. If you have a lot of whales beaching, it means you have a lot of whales out there. If you have no whales beaching, you have no whales out there, which is clearly a very bad thing.”

Of course, an increase of whale strandings is definitely a cause for concern, Andy continued.

“These numbers do ebb and flow,” he said. “But at the same time, the numbers certainly are a little elevated at the moment.”

A silver lining is that the local population segment of humpback whales in New Jersey’s coastal waters is not endangered or threatened. But as these strandings have continued, there has been a need among not just scientists to find an answer, but also among concerned citizens.

The Way The Wind Blows

As whale and dolphin deaths began to mount in recent years, a concern over offshore wind farm activity started to gain traction, raising questions as to whether the preparatory work for upcoming wind farms could be contributing to the increased mortality event.

The primary concern seems to be that the whale’s sonar system could be damaged by the wind farm work, an idea that has not found any backing in science so far.

In March, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a statement detailing this lack of connection.

“DEP is aware of no credible evidence that offshore wind-related survey activities could cause whale mortality,” the statement read. “While DEP has no reason to conclude that whale mortality is attributable to offshore wind-related activities, DEP will continue to monitor.”

While Andy said concerned citizens are “well meaning” and that we have to “absolutely” be studying any potential impact wind farms have on whales and other marine life, he agreed there has yet to be any evidence that this offshore activity is hurting whales.

“And certainly not to the degree of killing whales,” Andy said. “It just doesn’t seem to make any sense that these wind farms would be a real threat to the whales.”

Possible Causes

Of greater concern, the DEP mentioned in its March statement, is the rising ocean temperature stemming from climate change, numbers that are expected to continue increasing due to human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels.

“Climate change is by far the biggest threat to whales,” Andy agreed.

According to the NJDEP’s first New Jersey Scientific Report of Climate Change, which was published in 2020, climate change impacts marine mammals’ habitats and food sources, changes that can ripple through other ecological systems. Whales require healthy food choices, and climate change can reduce or eliminate these options.

While necropsies have only been conducted on about half of the stranded whales along the North Atlantic seaboard, these revealed around 40 percent of the deaths were attributed to “human interaction,” according to the NOAA Fisheries, which means the whales may have been struck by a vessel or entangled by fishing gear –the two biggest human threats to whales.

According to Andy, a stranded whale is often the sign of a sick or unhealthy animal.

“They may be stressed for some reason, potentially pregnant – some sort of large life event. If the animal is a little bit weak or confused, it might drift in with the tide,” he said. Whales also follow the food, which may put them in closer proximity to fishing activity and boats, Andy added.

“Or there may just be less food one year,” he said, “and animals could be malnourished.”

Why It Matters

“Whales play a crucial role within the ocean environment,” Andy said. “They are ecosystem engineers, playing a pivotal role in keeping ocean environments healthy and resilient against mounting threats. They mediate climate change and act as umbrella species; by protecting whales, we indirectly protect their entire ecosystem.”

When Ocean Alliance gathers information on whales, the scientists can learn a lot about the whales’ environments, too.

“As sentinels of ocean health, we can understand the changes our ocean is going through by studying them. And as beautiful, dynamic, and charismatic animals with well-documented intelligence, they have an extraordinary ability to inspire and to stimulate the connections between the ocean and the public that are at present so desperately needed,” Andy explained.

If a species of whales becomes endangered or goes extinct, the whole ocean ecosystem can begin to unravel, which can have potential repercussions on all of humanity. About half of the planet’s oxygen comes from the ocean. People all over the world rely on fisheries.

“Everything really does connect with everything,” Andy said. “If you start to lose these species, this planet becomes less hospitable, including for humans.

“By protecting whales, we can have an outsized impact for the environment.”

WHERE does a story start?

It’s a lie, the first page of a book, because it masquerades as a beginning. A real beginning – the opening of something – when what you’re being offered is an arbitrary line in the sand. This story starts here. Pick a random event. Ignore whatever came before it or catch up later.

He was an astronaut, he imagined, like in one of those movies; his mission took him to a distant planet on the far reaches of the solar system, Saturn, perhaps, or Neptune. He was gone a nominal amount of time... but somehow everyone Jordan Vargas knew on Earth had aged a lifetime while he was in space.

DEAR Sammy,

That’s how these things always start, right? I pretend you're still here, spill my guts on the page, and hope one day you’ll understand the meaning behind my words. Except you won’t.

-Megan Antosy

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