MARSHFIELD, Mass. — Officials from The New England Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Team are investigating what killed a 27-foot long minke whale found dead Sunday near Brant Rock.
The adult female, which was thinner than normal, is the 38th Minke whale to die along the East Coast since January 2017, according to The New England Aquarium. The higher-than-normal death rate among minke whales in the last year is causing concern.
Video showed the whale in very shallow water, swimming close to the shore in Marshfield on Saturday night.
On Sunday the whale was found dead on the shore.
The Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Team sampled tissue from the whale carcass Sunday and said they found significant cuts and deep long scratches on its underside and tail.
Aquarium biologists want to perform a necropsy, but this could take some time, as the whale is currently pinned against a jetty along a rocky, narrow shore.
With the abnormally high number of deaths, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration has declared this an "unusual mortality event" and is committing additional resources to try and learn what might be affecting the species.
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