Washed up whale died due to human interaction

Officials believe a whale that washed ashore in Sea Isle City Friday afternoon died due to human interaction.

– SkyFOX was live over the scene in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, to remove a dead humpback whale that was beached.

Police have secluded the area.

Bob Schoelkopf, the center’s founding director, said the whale is a young male that likely weighs 20 tons and is around 33 feet long. It was also struck by a ship at one point, Scholekopf added, though he suspects this occurred after the whale had already died. There were no visible bite marks on the animal from sharks or other large predators. The whale, it appears, became entangled in commercial fishing line that scarred its body and may have impacted its ability to eat.

Schoelkopf said this was the second whale to beach themselves along the Jersey coast this year.

A necropsy on the whale was completed Saturday and revealed that the whale was emaciated. That could take up to eight hours.

Humpback whales can typically grow to be 42 feet long, and weigh 66,000 pounds.