VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Less than a week after a dead humpback whale was found floating in the sea near Virginia Beach, another whale was found dead, this time of a different species.
It was found Monday in the Baylake Beach area.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this is the fourth large whale to strand on Virginia sand in 2023.
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The report of the dead whale has caused many to wonder why this is happening.
"I'm very sad because something is happening, and we don't know what it is," said Virginia Beach resident Heather Beloff as she was walking along the oceanfront.
"It's a big mystery," said her husband, David Beloff.
According to NOAA, from 2016 to 2023, there were 181 whale strandings along the East Coast.
In Virginia, specifically, there have been 27.
The most recent beached whale was determined to be a 20-year-old 43-foot male North Atlantic Right Whale. This is one of the most endangered of its species with fewer than 350 left in the world.
"I don't think people realize the impact that humans are having on the environment," Heather said. Unfortunately, it takes a death like this for people to realize that hey something is going and maybe we should step in or step back and take a look at what's going on and change."
NOAA officials haven't said what caused this recent death, however, on their website, there are a couple of reasons why they've found whales are beached.
For one, experts said Whales use sound to communicate, and human activities such as boating shipping, and construction might interfere with that. This creates noise that disrupts the whales' abilities to find food, mate, and avoid predators and other human hazards.
NOAA also reported that the migration patterns of right whales are close to major ports on the East Coast. Collisions between Right Whales and vessels can cause broken bones, internal injuries and cuts from vessel propellers.
While marine life experts piece together what happened in this most recent case, spectators said doing small things on land is just as important, such as being mindful of trash on the beach.
"Littering is terrible for sea life. It washes out and they get stuck in it. And also, we all live here, and we all deserve to live a happy life and a clean life," said the Beloffs.
A necropsy is set to be done on this most recent beached whale.
As a reminder, it's illegal to touch whales. They are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Action.
