A 37-foot long humpback whale washed up on shore in New York state, the first large whale to become stranded this year.
The female whale washed up dead on Westhampton Beach on Long Island on May 5.
Such an event is defined "as a stranding event that is unexpected, involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population, and demands immediate response."
The event is still under investigation.
The number of strandings from Florida to Maine jumped from 2015 to 2016, with 26 total in 2016. Thirty-four more were recorded in 2017 and 25 were recorded in 2018.
New York saw the second-most strandings during the time period, with 17 recorded, just behind Virginia's 19. Massachusetts and North Carolina each had 14 whales wash up dead.
Some 10,400 to 10,752 humpback whales are believed to reside in the North Atlantic Ocean.
“These days, right whale females, most are dead by the time they’re 50,” she said. “A lot of them are dying in their 30s. They’re living shorter lives and they’re having fewer calves.”
Barbara Zoodsma, a right whale biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that increased interaction with humans and human activities is definitely part of the problem. Different temperatures and other weather issues have also shifted when and where whales can find food, she told the Journal.
“For us, we go to the grocery store and know where the pickles and loaves of bread are,” Zoodsma said. “Then the store moves things around and it takes longer to find them. Then throw in there that there’s a supply problem. So now the store we always go to is out of pickles and we have to go to a different store. That’s what right whales are being faced with right now.”
“I’m going to stay out of that [climate change] debate, but it’s undeniable that things are changing,” Zoodsma added. “It’s undeniable that copepods (a type of zooplankton) that used to aggregate in huge swarms in the Bay of Fundy for right whales to feed on are no longer there. And that’s having an incredible effect.”