The humpback whale carcass is stuck in sediment in between Sea Isle City and Avalon in Townsends Inlet. (Photos courtesy of Marine Mammal Stranding Center)
By MADDY VITALE
A dead 30-foot, two-ton, humpback whale is stuck in the mud in a shallow section of Townsends Inlet between Sea Isle City and Avalon and all marine experts and officials can do is wait until the currents move it.
Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said the adult whale was discovered Thursday.
“One of our volunteers was surf fishing and called us right up,” Schoelkopf said in an interview Friday with SeaIsleNews.com. “Unfortunately, it parked itself in the shallows of the inlet. We could have brought it in earlier when the waters were navigable, but they aren’t now.”
On Thursday, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, along with members of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center went out to view the whale.
“The Coast Guard put a tracking device on it,” Schoelkopf explained.
As of Friday afternoon, the whale carcass was still in the same spot as it was the day before -- in the mud, Schoelkopf said.
There were a couple of reasons why the whale couldn’t be moved.
The first was the danger.
Sharks were feeding on the carcass. The waters in that area are shallow – chest deep and if the currents changed it could move the whale and pose a danger to the marine experts who would be trying to relocate it, Schoelkopf pointed out.
So, for now, they wait.
But the inevitability is it will end up on property either in Sea Isle or Avalon.
And if it does, it will not be good for the residents, Schoelkopf said, adding that the sight and smell will not be pleasant.
“It is still stuck in the mud in between Avalon and Sea Isle,” he said. “Since we just had a full moon tide, it might just sit there and decay.”
If the animal does end up on land, Schoelkopf said that the center volunteers would be more than happy to assist the municipality with the handling of the remains and burying the whale.
The whale is in shallow waters in Townsends Inlet.
U.S. Coast Guard put a tracker tag on the carcass to locate it should currents lift it out of the sediment below.
