NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Another dead whale washed up in the Outer Banks over the weekend, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) in North Carolina announced on Tuesday.
The juvenile female humpback whale washed up covered in fishing gear near the shore of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, according to a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Following a report from a concerned citizen on Saturday, officials checked on the young whale Sunday morning. A fisherman told officials he had seen the whale caught in fishing gear.
The whale ultimately passed away and washed ashore. Officials plan to perform an autopsy soon to determine the exact cause of death.
"Biologists have assessed the situation and anchored the dead whale to shore in order to perform a necropsy when tide conditions allow," according to the USFWS in North Carolina.
This is at least the seventh dead whale to wash ashore in the Outer Banks and Virginia Beach in the last six weeks.
Blair Mase, the Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator for NOAA, called this latest death a "really sad case" among a string of "unusual mortality rates."
Of the recent whale strandings, Mase says many have been linked to either ship strikes or entanglements. In the past few years, NOAA reports 40% of necropsies have concluded there was human interaction.
Mase added that they have not found any evidence linking the whale deaths to offshore wind farms.
If you see a whale that may be struggling, Mase urges you to call NOAA's stranding line at 1-877-942-5343.