Rare Endangered Whale Reportedly Entangled Off The Jersey Shore

We had a lot of whale activity in the vicinity of the Jersey Shore this past spring and summer. From close encounters to sad situations, it's been a number of weeks since the peak of the summertime activity.

Today though, we're hearing about a dangerous situation in the waters off of the New Jersey coast involving a rare and very endangered species of whale.

According to NOAA Fisheries, reports have come in over the last few days of a North Atlantic right whale that has become entangled in marine lines and is in, “extremely poor condition”.

The report says that the whale was first spotted in the waters off of Sea Bright this past weekend and was identified by whale preservation staff aboard a whale watching ship.

The experts said that the animal looked starved and had numerous visible wounds from the lines.

With only an estimated 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining, the group's executive director told NJ.com that the North Atlantic right whale is, "...the most critically endangered of all the whale species".

This story comes after a number of whale deaths at and near the Jersey Shore in 2020, including a beached minke whale in Spring Lake back in June that experts later said may have died of a brain disease that has been suspected in a number of similar deaths in the last few years.

NOAA Fisheries has said that they will provide updates on the Sea Bright North Atlantic right whale entanglement when they become available. You can follow along with the official report by clicking here.

You can read more of NJ.com's report on the incident by clicking here.

You can check out our previous coverage of whales at the Jersey Shore by clicking here.