A whale is dead, and a New Jersey man was set overboard after a collision last weekend. The animal collided with a boat in a New Jersey bay, which proved to be fatal.
The New Jersey State Police Marine Unit confirmed the incident, which happened on August 2. A whale in Barnegat Bay struck a boat, causing it to nearly capsize. One of the passengers went overboard from the force of the collision, which caused the watercraft to nearly flip. Witnesses screamed at passing boaters to shut the motor off.
"Oh my God, they're going over," one witness shouted. "Oooh, man overboard!"
Fortunately, the passenger ended up surviving the collision. The same could not be said about the whale. The animal swam away in clear distress after becoming injured from the collision. Kim Mancini reported that the animal went under her boat before striking with another boat on the other side.
Whale Dies
Authorities confired the 20-foot-long Minke species died from its injuries.
"We know the whale has died. We're not really sure why, but we're going to find that out," center director Shelia Dean told NJ.com.
Meanwhile, authorities confirmed they would tow the animal's body to a nearby park for a post-mortem examination of its injuries. Meanwhile, authorities warn boaters to keep their distance away from the corpse. Boaters should stay at least 150 feet away from the area. Reviewing footage, Dean is perplexed by how the incident happened.
She noted the shallowness of the water. Dean doesn't understand how the boats got so close to the creature, given the shallowness of the water. She believes the boat's motor may have sliced and injured the creature.
"I don't know how they even got where the whale was because it was so shallow," Dean said. She also urges people to never approach the animal if you encounter one in the wild.
"If the whale approaches you, you shut your engines off and just lay dead in the water until the whale swims away," Dean said. "You should never approach a whale."
