Whale suffered traumatic final minutes before washing onto SC beach, report says

Miami Herald

5 days ago

A 29-foot-long humpback whale found dead on a South Carolina beach suffered a horrific death when its head was bashed by a boat, an investigation has revealed.
The juvenile whale washed out of the Atlantic around March 15 on Bird Island near the state's northern border, and the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network suspected from the start that it suffered a painful death.
'Necropsy results suggested this animal died from blunt force trauma from an acute ship strike, resulting in multiple skull fractures and jaw disarticulation,' the network wrote in a May 22 update on Facebook.
The boat involved remains a mystery, but the passengers likely felt the impact, according to Lauren Rust, executive director of the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network.
No prop marks were found carved into the whale's back, but there was a 'burn from the keel,' she said.
The injuries may have been caused by a fishing boat, which likely sustained damage, officials said.
'We determined this was acute blunt force trauma, meaning it happened quick and fast and likely died relatively quickly,' Rust said. 'It could be less than 24 hours. Some cases where the injury is less severe, animals can survive longer or bones can heal but this was too traumatic.'
The carcass was found so close to the state line that Brunswick County officials were able to move it to Sunset Beach in North Carolina so the University of North Carolina Wilmington Marine Mammal Stranding Program could perform the necropsy and tissue collection, officials said.
Humpback whales are native to the mid-Atlantic region and boat strikes are a leading cause of death, along with entanglement with fishing gear, NOAA Fisheries reports.
The sea mammals can live up to 90 years, and reach sizes of 60 feet in length and 40 tons, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.
'Humpback whales are a favorite of whale watchers ― they are often active, jumping out of the water and slapping the surface with their pectoral fins or tails,' NOAA says.
'They travel great distances every year and have one of the longest migrations of any mammal on the planet. Some populations swim 5,000 miles from tropical breeding grounds to colder, more productive feeding grounds.'