Whale dies after collision with small boat off New Jersey shore

In this file photo, the ocean horizon is clear on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Long Beach Township, N.J. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A minke whale died off the New Jersey shore after a collision that nearly tipped over a small boat and threw a person overboard.

Social media video of the collision in Barnegat Bay on Saturday afternoon shows the motor boat rocking after the impact and the 20-foot (six-metre) whale splashing near the craft before swimming away. The person thrown overboard manages to tread water next to the boat.

The whale was found dead after it came to rest on a sandbar in shallow water. Marine authorities were not able to get close to the whale due to tidal conditions, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, a not-for-profit rescue, rehabilitation and release organization.

“At this point, we really don’t have much to go on,” Jay Pagel, stranding coordinator at the center, said Sunday. “The side of the animal that we were able to observe had no obvious marks on it that we could see. But again, our visibility was very limited.”

Pagel said there were reports the whale had injuries prior to the collision captured on video. He noted there was a second video posted online that appears to show the whale making contact with a pontoon boat after the initial collision.

The animal will be towed to a state park on Monday morning for a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

The Associated Press