Monmouth Beach — The fully intact remains of an endangered Humpback Whale were found along a small stretch of shoreline in Monmouth Beach yesterday.

    The female whale was first spotted earlier at approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 27 floating lifelessly just south of where it washed up on the beach near the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion.

     According to Jay Pagel, a senior field technician with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center located in Brigantine; a cause of death had not yet been determined for the 27-foot long whale. Results of a necropsy performed earlier on the body are expected to be made available in the coming days.

    According to Stranding Technician Brandi Biehl, the whale appeared to have been struck by a ship.

    Biehl pointed to the fact that the mammal’s stomach had been forced up out of its mouth, as possible evidence of some kind of blunt force impact to the whale.

    In most cases, when a whale washes up along the shoreline, Biehl explained, a full necropsy is done at the scene. However, because the whale washed up in an area surrounded by jetties there was no way for the authorities to move any heavy equipment into the area.

    As a result, Biehl said that the most reasonable course of action would be to let the whale be taken back out to sea by the tide and washed up again in a more accessible area.

    According to Biehl, the Stranding Center would not have been able to simply dissect the whale at its location in Monmouth Beach because even in smaller pieces, the animal would still have been too heavy to carry by hand.   

    Although endangered, Humpback Whales can occasionally be spotted near any of the country’s coastal states.

    The whales have been protected from commercial whaling since the late 1960’s however, they are still vulnerable to pollution and boat collisions among other factors.