CAPE MAY – Cape May can now be added to the list of communities that have experienced dead or dying sea mammals washing up on municipal beaches.
Mayor Zack Mullock confirmed that a dead dolphin was found on the beach near Baltimore Avenue April 1.
Just one week earlier, the badly decomposed carcass of a pygmy sperm whale washed ashore in Ocean City. The Ocean City carcass came just days after a mass stranding of dolphins in Sea Isle City March 21.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center has taken the dolphin from the Cape May beach for a full necropsy. Mullock said the city has offered to raise funds for any expenses over the standard procedure.
“We want to find out what happened,” he added.
According to a list maintained by the Stranding Center, the Cape May dolphin is the 37th marine whale, dolphin, or porpoise to wash up on the New Jersey shoreline or to be confirmed floating dead offshore since the beginning of December 2022.
In several cases, the dead sea mammals are listed as having been sent to the New Jersey State Lab for necropsies. Despite the growing public alarm over the issue, even preliminary results from the necropsies are listed as pending.
Speculation about the high number of fatalities has led some officials to call for a halt in offshore wind survey work. Just last week, the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution calling for a 90-day pause in survey work.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have argued that no evidence exists linking offshore wind farm work to the increase in sea mammal fatalities.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
